


more than they bargained for

by RosePetalsAndRain



Series: More than they Bargained For [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Blood and Injury, Enby Character, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Found Family, M/M, Multi, Pirates, Reunions, Royalty, SURPRISE SIREN ADDITION who will it be ;), Set in 1700s, Set in the 1700s, Sirens, Slow Burn, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Violence, ace hyunjin, ace seungmin, enby hyunjin, i thought that would be a relevant tag, one of them is a siren ;), seungmin prosthetic leg !!!, treasure members are only mentioned im sorry!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:01:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 76,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26070811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosePetalsAndRain/pseuds/RosePetalsAndRain
Summary: “Hmm… take precautions, just in case. You can’t be too careful,” Chan orders, and everybody obeys; Seungmin and Hyunjin remain where they are as well as Jisung, whilst Felix hurriedly returns the guns he was polishing to their rightful places. Within minutes, the other ship is within cannon-firing distance from their own, and surely enough, it’s then steered around so that it’s facing the Strays’ ship side-on.They’re definitely preparing to attack.“Everybody to their stations!” Chan yells, and everyone physically flinches as a loud bang resoundedfrom the enemy ship; a cannon fired with intent of maiming their ship, and by god, their cannons are by no means small.“Sucker,” Jeongin snickers as the cannon misses, having been too heavy to carry the too-far distance between ships to have hit them. “TRY HARDER NEXT TIME!”“Jeongin, shut up and do your job."OR: When three worlds collide, and you throw in cursed treasure, an enemy ship, unprecedented feelings and a Siren, will everybody make it out alive?
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin, Lee Felix/Yang Jeongin | I.N
Series: More than they Bargained For [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2166789
Comments: 68
Kudos: 136





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi hello!  
> Welcome to my pirate au. I'm not sure when the update schedule for this will be; roughly weekly or every few days, but it's mostly completely pre-written so there'll be no extra-long gaps between chapters!  
> A huge thank you to Linlin @// honeypressed (i still dont know how to link accounts) for helping me beta-read this, you're the best <3  
> In later chapters some words may be unfamiliar to some of you- but don't worry, the definitions will be in the notes! also, feel free to ask any questions in the comments too, i'll be happy to answer.  
> i've also tried to make this as realistic as possible, so i hope it feels real to you all!  
> this has been sitting in my drafts waiting to be posted for a While now, so im honestly a little scared to know what you'll all think of it- i hope you enjoy!  
> also, Jisung's birthday is nearing, in just a couple of hours, so be sure to wish him a happy birthday and support our boys' comeback as well as felix's birthday tomorrow!! everything's happening at once, aaaa<3  
> happy reading, and welcome to this universe <3

Friday. The 25th of May, 1752. 

The sunrise is calm; the sky an organised mess of orange and pink hues framed by clouds. It always rises on the right side of the castle; never changing, of course. This way, the sun’s journey up into the sky is always reflected by the sea, not too far away from the palace and definitely viewable from it.

Constant. Reliable, yet ever-changing. 

The castle itself is grand; the newest marble floors have recently been fitted, and every single room used by the nobility has the most intricate and _mostly_ religious stories, symbols and murals painted upon them in rich colours; no expense having been spared in the glorious paintings, nor the golden decor that hangs from every available space in between them; chandeliers hanging heavy and walls lined with priceless gold where paint isn’t present. It’s definitely worth mentioning that there’s no shortage of perhaps unnecessary amounts of furniture, instruments and rarities that only the richest could ever afford - literally hundreds of candelabras, they’ve been counted- paintings from the best-known painters worldwide such as William Hoggarth, and the rarest instruments one could ever lay eyes on, that exist within the castle solely for decoration and bragging purposes, for of course nobody can lay a finger on them, lest they dirty or damage one. 

It’s nothing short of extravagant, and Lee Minho, resident prince of the palace, hates every aspect of it. 

The prince is currently watching the sunrise, having always been an early riser and enjoying the few stolen hours he can have to himself before the rest of the castle (aside from the servants, maids and the rest of the staff) awake and begin to hound him for his royal duties once more. In the mornings, he can watch the sun appear, bright and beautiful and ever-changing even though it never changes, and here he can pretend he’s... somewhere else. Some _one_ else.

Chin propped comfortably in one hand as he leans against the windowsill, Minho sighs silently to himself, watching the seagulls that had the freedom to fly wherever they pleased, fly directly into the sun’s path. If only he could have that same freedom, untied to this castle and the life he wishes not to have. 

As a child the young prince would see the birds and clap his pudgy hands in delight, little squeals leaving his lips as he flapped his arms above his head messily, pretending to be one of them too. Sometimes even some of the maids watching over him would laugh and join in, running around the castle grounds with him and even picking him up and spinning him about in the air, making him feel as if he really were flying. Fond memories… Minho wishes he could recreate that feeling of weightlessness. 

But now, at twenty-one years old, the young man has more than just a taller body weighing him down. He has the responsibilities of the world- or at least of his kingdom- on his shoulders, so much that every step makes his shoulders ache and his head hurt as if each responsibility are a physical weight carried with him. A burden, indeed. 

Logically, Minho knows it’s a horrid thing to feel so burdened by his responsibilities as future king. But on the other hand, he had never chosen this life! He had never asked to be whisked away from his carefree childhood to be sat in endless, private, one-on-one classes with tutor after tutor teaching him to “sit up straight”, “have proper etiquette” and “learn to speak seven languages” at the tender age of six. “Start them young”, as the universal saying goes. But it was unfair, almost cruelly so, to start burdening a child with these kinds of responsibilities as soon as they were able to tell the difference between sun and rain. 

The few times Minho had been allowed to roam the city freely were enjoyable memories indeed. Although he isn’t allowed to dress down as one of the townspeople like he had begged to be and has to be flanked by bodyguards and soldiers left, right and centre to ensure his safety, he had loved the freedom in the air, the mingling scents of life and food and, admittedly, excretion lining the streets, but that is only to be expected! There, he knows children grow up with brighter childhoods than he had, even if they haven’t got as much money as his family growing up- but the town's children are _allowed to be children,_ allowed to exist and develop without also having to know what the suffocating pressures of royalty felt like. The city is by no means poor, and Minho would have- _still would-_ give anything to be an ordinary townsperson rather than a prince. 

These are the thoughts that plague him as he watches the sunrise that morning, an endless war of “be grateful” clashing with “be reasonable” in his head, over and over. Either way, he knows there’s no escape and as much as he loathes his status and set career in life; he also knows there’s no way out and that he just has to bear his future title as King as best he can- he shouldn’t be whining internally about being so privileged, he _knows._

It doesn’t stop his soul from yearning though… deep down, he’s only human, with a human soul and human longing, and he knows he isn’t where fate wants him to be.

Eyes trained on the quickly lessening form of a bird flying into the horizon, Minho lets a small smile take over his face as he throws open a window, letting the morning air come racing into his bedquarters and ruffling through his hair like gentle fingers. Standing up on his tiptoes, he raises his arms above his head and exhales, closing his eyes for a second and letting himself _imagine._

_Freedom._

A cough resounds from behind him and he startles, tripping over his own feet and slamming into the windowsill with his stomach as he tries to turn around and see the source of the sound. 

“Father,” Minho greets, steadying himself and standing up straight, bowing at the waist, as he had been taught to since the day he had taken his first steps.

“Minho.” As good and fair of a ruler his father is, Minho can see the lines of old age etched into his face, especially of late, and knows that soon he will be stepping down from the throne. “May I ask… what you were just doing, then?” he carries on, voice cutting through Minho’s thoughts as smooth as a warm knife through butter.

“Nothing of importance,” is Minho’s stable reply. “Enjoying the morning air before the day begins.”

“Always yearning for the sea air, just like when you were a child,” the king reminisces, eyes twinkling knowingly, and Minho resists the urge to roll his eyes at the act his father is putting on, as if he was at all present during Minho’s childhood. “You have a meeting in an hour.” Despite his father’s apparent memories of Minho’s childhood, Minho himself has little to no memory of his father or mother as a child, or even a teenager. They have always been _present_ , in a physical sense, but there’s never been any semblance of love, or a bond between them. It’s honestly almost like a professional relationship they all have; meeting to discuss business and business only, the same things, for as long as Minho can remember.

“Already?” Checking his watch- if you can call it a watch, for it was merely a small, silver ticking _pocket_ watch that fits comfortably in Minho’s palm that he keeps tucked safely away in his inner pocket of his overcoats, or for now, his pyjamas- the young prince finds that it was, indeed, later than he had thought. Tucking the quietly ticking object away again, he straightens and bows, keeping his brown locks from falling into his eyes with one hand. “I shall leave and prepare immediately.” 

“I’ll see you later on, Minho.”

Minho leaves obligingly, but not before turning back to the window, inhaling one last breath of fresh air before closing said window with inward reluctance. 

Time for the day to begin. 

Swiftly, the brunet prince dresses, having asked repeatedly to be left alone to dress for years now (and only recently had his servants started to grant him privacy instead of insisting on dressing him themselves. It was a simple task, and Minho felt positively ridiculous standing and having other people dress him up like a doll.) 

Once dressed, he gulps down a china cup of tea infused with rose water from the gardens- no time for breakfast after losing track of time, so he will have to wait until midday now, or at least until after this meeting- and makes his way to the other end of the castle at a leisurely pace, bowing to and greeting anybody he comes into contact with on the way; nothing short of pleasant. Although he’ll never outwardly admit it, Minho is certainly a castle favourite, especially amongst staff, who are all fairly used to being treated like objects by the nobility and royal family, whereas young Prince Minho always went out of his way to greet them, ask them of their wellbeing and make life working for him as comfortable as possible. It is his nature to be kind and attentive; status, of all things mattered little, if at all, to him. 

Everybody is already seated in the courtroom, and rises to their feet as Minho enters, and he nods curtly at them, a motion for them to sit back down as he himself takes his seat at the head of the room. “Good morning, all. What is the topic of our meeting today?” he asks as he shifts a little, making himself comfortable. 

“We have had reports from lookouts and the like that soon we are expecting the… visitation… of pirates, your majesty,” the head of the meeting, a noble man named Kanemoto Yoshinori, announces. “We have good reason to expect them to attack the city, if not the castle, for our goods.” 

“I see.” Outwardly, Minho is composed; thoughtful, even… but inside, his heart was racing. But not with fear… excitement, perhaps, is the feeling he was looking to name. _Pirates._ How unusual.

“We are holding this meeting in the hopes that you can shed some light on what we can do in this situation,” Yoshinori carries on, unaware of Minho’s internal excitement as he focuses on the serious matter at hand. 

Multiple people stand; a clear sign that they want to speak, and Minho waves his hand at each individual, letting them voice their suggestions and concerns. 

“The businesses on the seafront in particular will be most likely attacked first, Your Majesty,” is the first concern, voiced by an elderly woman named Insook, but her input is immediately shot down by another woman, Hyewon. 

“They’re not the richest businesses though, so I disagree. Surely the pirates will infiltrate the city and target the more wealthy businesses nearest the castle.”

“But if they’re going to get so far into the city just to pilfer and rob us then surely they’ll go straight for the castle?”

“How do we know that these pirates will even have the knowledge of the city structure, and which areas are wealthiest?” Minho cuts in smoothly, before the debate can spiral out of control. “We do not know which areas will be targeted and when, so does anybody have any ideas for the city as a whole?” He makes sure to look at everybody in the room as he says this, encouraging. 

Silence takes over the courtroom for a few seconds before a throat is cleared, and Yoshinori speaks up once more. “Sir, I think that we should place guards first and foremost in the harbour and at the seafront. The pirates will have no other way into the city, so we need to place our first line of defense there.”

“Good,” Minho approves, nodding his head. 

“May I suggest, Your Highness, that we place guards in each inner circle of the city according to its structure? That way, if the pirates manage to infiltrate through the initial line of guards, there are more guards waiting within each layer of the city, like a shield within a shield,” one of Minho’s supervisors, Kang Yeosang, suggests. “It secures the palace and innermost city that way.” 

“I agree… but the people need to be protected more than the palace. As long as everyone within the castle can be effectively evacuated if the pirates do find a way in, there’s nothing here that cannot be replaced. Prioritise the safety of the people first and foremost,” Minho gently steers the main focus of protecting the castle to protecting what mattered most. The castle can survive and be rebuilt; people can not. 

“May I suggest that we keep a steady lookout for the pirates appearing, and when they come into view we put in place safety precautions for the people?” Yoshinori speaks up again, drawing more confidence from Minho, who nods at him again, gesturing for him to carry on. “We could evacuate the people from their houses into their nearest communal halls, so they’re all in one place and therefore easier to guard and protect. If we cannot guarantee the safety of their property, we can at least promise their lives the utmost protection we can give to them.” 

“A well-thought through suggestion, Yoshinori, I applaud you,” Minho praises kindly. “And how would we protect them in the communal halls, where they would arguably be easier to attack all at once?”

“There will be guards flanking the entrances and exits of each hall; and if worst comes to worst, each hall is equipped with a cellar where we would normally store the wine for banquets and such. We can empty those halls and store the wine elsewhere to make room for emergencies.”

“Approved. You may use the castle cellars; we have more than enough room here.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” 

Minho clasps his hands together and looks pleasantly around the room at the awaiting faces. “So if we use Yeosang’s plan to station guards at every layer of the city to protect each part of it and then Yoshinori’s suggestion of evacuating the people into communal halls for the night once we spot the pirates, we have solid plans for protecting both the city and the people. Good work.”

Within a couple of hours, the meeting is concluded with a finalised, foolproof plan to secure the city and harbour as well as the castle and guarantee minimal damage to either party. Minho wouldn’t want to harm the pirates either, as long as they do not harm his kingdom. 

“Meeting adjourned.” Minho is the first to leave, as means of general etiquette (the rest of the meeting can’t leave before he does) and makes his way downstairs to the kitchens. Usually a royal would never have reason to enter the kitchens, but Minho finds comfort in the company of the servants there, who treat him with care- but a _normal_ amount- like a normal person instead of ‘the Prince’, and so he prefers eating there to up in the grandly furnished yet still so _empty_ dining rooms where his cutlery echoes as he eats and the lack of people bustling and laughing with him echoes even louder in his ears. 

In short, the kitchens hold much more favourable company and many less expectations of him.

The kitchens are reasonably quiet today; most of the staff being upstairs, serving the rest of his family and the nobility that inhabit the castle with them, so Minho is mostly left alone with his thoughts today. Which is fine, even _preferable_ this time, as he wants time before his schedule resumes to think about these pirates as he scarfs down deliciously hot soup and fresh bread and the stray cats that take up residence in the kitchens slink in and out of his legs beneath the table. 

Bae Jinyoung, another young man from the earlier meeting, had mentioned that the suspected pirates are one of the most feared and well-known pirates to sail this part of the world, commonly known as the Strays. Just like when the word is used in relation to stray dogs, it strikes fear into people’s hearts for their recklessness and lack of remorse in their actions. People have often likened them to stray animals too; dehumanising them in their stories and tales and reducing the pirates to mere rabid animals. Minho personally doubts that they’re truly like that; if they’re as mad and ‘rabid’ as people say they are then surely they wouldn’t have had the ability to become as successful in their trade as they are now. It makes no sense, and Minho is also wise to the way stories are stretched and exaggerated as they’re told from person to person. He knows better than to assume anything about anyone. 

If anything, he envies the pirates a little. Realistically, they have no expectations from anyone other than to live their lives and, if they so choose, dock in a random harbour and pillage a few villages. They must have so much freedom, to roam the sea as they please; to not be tied down by responsibilities and just being able to take each day as it comes… 

Shaking himself, Minho realises the spoonful of soup he’s been holding halfway to his mouth has long since grown cold, so he gulps it down quickly and shakes himself. _Stop thinking about what cannot be._

“Ah, your majesty,” one of the cooks; a kind, elderly woman named Chunhwa, whom Minho has literally known his whole life, bustles into the kitchen holding empty trays stacked up on top of one another. “I hope the soup is to your liking!”

“It’s perfect, thank you, Chunhwa.” Minho has given up trying to get Chunhwa to call him by his name- she’s relatively old, and favours tradition and respect to the royal family over familiarity such as calling Minho casually by his name. It doesn’t stop her from sneaking him extra food, though, and on only a few rare but very much treasured occasions, she had taught him pretty much everything he now knows about cooking and baking. He can make a _good_ , well-rounded meal if he so wants to, thanks to her!

“Your family are asking after you again, my prince, and I- oh!” Chunhwa stumbles a little on a loose floorboard and trips; the heavy trays in her grasp falling to the floor with ear-splitting crashes and echoes, but luckily she doesn’t hit the ground herself; catching herself on a countertop before she can overbalance and fall. Minho jumps to his feet, arms out and ready for if she stumbles again. 

“Sit down, please,” he gasps, rushing to her and leading her to the table he’s just been sitting at. “I insist. I’ll pick up those trays, you rest for a minute. That must have been quite a shock.”

“Thank you, my sweet boy,” Chunhwa’s eyes crinkle as she beams. “Always so polite.”

“You’ve helped raise me, I would never treat you with anything less.” Minho sets to work picking up the numerous trays and stacking them onto the wooden floor beside him, ready to pick up. The last tray is a little way away from him, and he walks over to it before crouching beside it, seeing that one of the floorboards has become loose. It’s probably what Chunhwa had tripped on… why couldn’t his parents have replaced the admittedly unstable kitchen floor as _well_ as the rest of the castle? The staff, who were constantly working and moving about, need a new floor _way_ more than the upper areas of the castle that are only used for sitting in and talking. 

But… wait.

Eyes widening, Minho’s fingers stretch out to the floorboard again, and he swears to himself that he sees something beneath it. There can’t be, right?

“Is everything alright, your majesty?” Chunhwa inquires, having noticed Minho has stopped suddenly. 

“I… Yes, everything’s quite alright, thank you Chunhwa.” he grabs the last tray and adds it to the pile before standing, laughing quietly as he stacks them onto a table. “I just spaced out for a second, my apologies. Are you alright?”

“Dandy,” the elderly woman positively twinkles. 

“Well, remember to take it easy today, keep resting. And be careful of these floorboards, I’ll see about having them replaced as soon as possible,” Minho assures her, making to leave.

“Always so attentive,” Chunhwa waves him off as he exits the kitchen before placing her hands in her lap, none the wiser to what Minho had seen. “He’ll make for a great leader someday.” 

**

The rest of the day passes excruciatingly slowly, each second feeling physically painful to wait out. The only thing keeping Minho sane is the steady ticking of his pocket-watch that never ceases in its tick, tick, ticking in his pocket, barely audible but enough to reassure him that time is, at least, still _moving_. He has to wait until very late at night, almost two in the morning, until he knows the kitchens and corridors will be mostly empty- save for a couple of night guards, of course, but he can avoid them.

Be it even just a small piece of paper somehow accidentally caught in the floor whilst it was being laid down, Minho _has_ to know what it was he’s seen. Call it what you will; a catlike curiosity or perhaps even a thirst for far-fetched possible adventure, but something deep down within him, he knows that he simply won’t be able to rest until said curiosity has been quenched. 

Using a candle (of course, encased in a golden stand, luxurious like everything else in the castle) to light his way, he sets off down the wide corridor leading to the main staircase, still clad in his royal attire, seeing as he’s been too wired to even think about sleeping yet. Taking care to be as silent as possible, he silently thanks his parents for having refurbished the floors for the first time ever. They hadn’t needed them to be replaced, but hey, a new floor means no unwanted creaks in the night. 

Luckily, the prince makes it to the kitchens uninterrupted and drops to his knees instantly, using the candle to light the way across the floor until he comes across the slightly raised board. Truly, it’s a little spooky having the kitchen blanketed in darkness and completely deserted apart from some of the cats that slept there, but Minho can’t pet them for the candle in his hand being too great of a risk of harm to them, so he ignores them as they meow sleepily, in favour of digging his fingers under that damned floorboard, trying to work it up. It hurts a lot, and his circulation is definitely getting cut off, but right as he’s about to snatch his fingers back to regain his blood flow, the floorboard snaps up and out of its place, flying into the air and scraping Minho’s chin painfully before clattering onto the floor, sounding supernaturally loud against the silent night.

Minho winces, and stays statue-still as he listens for other movement nearby, hoping to any and every higher power that he hasn't woken anyone. 

After staying frozen in place, eyes squeezed shut, for a good few minutes, but to his luck hearing no disturbances from outside, he reopens his eyes and breathes out a sigh of relief, picking up the discarded candle to hold to the now-open floor.

“Oh my goodness,” Minho whispers, hands trembling and heartbeat stupidly fast for someone who’s only found some scrolls of parchment underneath a floorboard. It could be nothing, right? Maybe these are just some recipes that are being kept secret from some other staff, or something. Maybe Minho shouldn’t be prying after all…

Nonetheless, he has to know what was on the scrolls now. He unrolls one, absurdly slowly despite his burning curiosity, and almost gasps again when he sees what’s printed upon it. 

It’s… a map? Of some sort?- Or indeed, half of one... It's torn diagonally down the middle. The parchment is covered in markings, looking almost like a map but clearly hand-drawn and with distinct markings and notes on it. He can’t make out the words; his eyes straining in the dark, but upon opening the other two scrolls he found similar drawings and more notes; notes that he guesses are more specific to each marking on the main mark. Rolling the maps back up and stuffing them into his inner pocket next to his pocket-watch, he takes care to replace the floorboard properly and sets the candle on the table, taking a few moments to make a fuss of the cats that watch him from the boxes they’re sleepily lolling in. 

_Alright, time to go._ He makes his way soundlessly back up the castle to his bedquarters, and has almost made it back without encountering anyone when two guards sprint up the stairs that he had just walked back up, rounding a corner and nearly sending Minho flying. 

“Oh! Your majesty!” the guards bow, eyes frightened. “We were just sent to check on your whereabouts.”

“Oh? Is everything alright?” Minho asks, increasingly suspicious and scared in equal parts. There’s no way they could know about the maps already, right?

“It’s the pirates. They’ve just arrived minutes ago, and they’ve already attacked the city, your majesty.”

Minho exhales slowly, processing the information. _Damn_. They’ve had no time at all to fortify the city yet, having only held the meeting this morning, which means everybody in the kingdom was vulnerable to the attack… 

“Are they just attacking anybody they see?”

“No, your majesty. They’re heading straight for the castle, it seems.”

Heart racing, Minho tries his best not to look suspicious. Something has suddenly clicked inside his head and he isn’t sure how to feel about it. “We’ll have to fortify immediately, then.”

“Your father has already given the orders. We’re just here to check you’re okay and are protected for if they do find a way into the castle.” 

“Well, we’re all here and fine; I shall go directly to my quarters if that’s what’s needed. Do you gentlemen need to be… helping elsewhere?” Minho tries, wanting them out of the way but not wanting to blow his cover and directly shoo them and risk arousing suspicion. 

They shift uneasily. “Well, help is always needed in these situations, but we’re under direct orders to make sure you’re safe.”

“I can assure you, I’m quite safe,” Minho smiles, raising both hands innocently. “And I’m sure the castle needs your strength and help much more than me, who’s located very high up and unlikely to be reached.”

“You’re right… we’ll come directly up to you if we hear of anything adverse happening up here,” one guard promises him, and Minho nods, waving them off as he walks back to his quarters, collapsing on his bed once he’s safely inside with no further encounters. Lighting his candelabra for more candlelight, he reads over the notes on the map easily and draws in a few breaths, clutching the parchments to his chest as he looks around his chambers in slight paranoia. If the pirates aren’t here for the palace’s riches… this is without a doubt what they were here for. 

Minho has a choice to make.

He could do the right thing and turn the map in to his father, which can still possibly go either way in terms of the pirates. Maybe they’ll end up leaving the dock without having acquired anything? Who knows… 

Or, he can give the pirates the maps personally. Yes, he knows there are definitely a range of options he could potentially go with that are both related and unrelated to the map, but he can’t help but feel a _pull_ towards doing the latter, just this once.

_Just this once, he can choose to break the rules._

And yes, this ‘one’ time will affect the rest of his life indefinitely. He’s fully aware that he could be killed, and his position as future king denounced, the royal family ruined. But…

The desire to take a leap and finally be _free_ … maybe these pirates could take him in? He could become one of them. He’s a fair hand in a swordfight, having taken combat lessons as well as archery growing up and well into his teen years; and is considered a fine hand at both. So he knows he could defend himself if he needed to. He’s also a fine carpenter; a hobby he’s grown to love throughout the years to make himself feel more useful around the palace when he had free time. Fixing and making things, rather than lazing about and being of no use to anybody. So he knows he’s _useful_ , too. A contributing factor.

Suddenly, he slaps himself. “Lee Minho,” he says aloud to himself, strict. “Don’t you even dare entertain that thought. Becoming a pirate by means of freedom… Absolutely absurd. Of all things to do…” 

“Becoming a pirate?” a rough voice repeats from behind him, “Well. We certainly get the freedom!” 

Minho gasps and barely contains a scream as he falls off his bed in fright, stuffing the maps back into his pocket on reflex and definitely creasing them in the process. The disembodied voice has gotten closer in that first sentence alone, yet Minho can see nothing; nobody. Is he going crazy?

“Over here, your royalness,” a sarcastic remark that has Minho rolling his eyes despite his fear comes from above, and Minho does scream this time as he sees another young man- maybe even around his age, possibly even younger- drop from his ceiling, from where he had been suspended with nothing but a thick length of rope. His feet hit the ground and he tugs on the rope, which falls into his waiting hand beside his chest as he wears a look of immense satisfaction on his features. He’s wearing a slightly dirty long-sleeved white top that billows out at the arms and reminds Minho of a ship’s sail, paired with park pants of the same style and a belt that contains several pouches and weapons. His skin is bloodied in places, but Minho can’t tell if it’s the pirate’s own blood or someone else’s.

“I don’t know what you heard…” Minho starts, taking a second to catch his breath and compose his trembling voice before he carries on, “but I was not thinking about becoming a pirate. How absurdly improper for a royal…” 

“Pity,” the pirate says rudely, twirling a small knife’s tip against his finger, not hard enough to draw blood but looking effectively menacing whilst doing so. “I might not have had to use this if you’d have entertained the thought a little longer. Such a shame to mess up a face belonging to the Royal Family.” 

He has blonde hair which he wears slightly long, and is a few centimetres shorter than Minho, the prince guessed. His cheeks puff out slightly, making him look a little like a squirrel but no less threatening than a wolf, and his eyes- brown and narrowed at him- look like they hold every secret in the world. 

Minho chokes a little. “W-what is it that you’re here for, pirate?” he spits out, trying desperately to hide his shaking hands behind his back. Where were the guards that had promised to come to him if the pirates got close? 

“Ah, the usual. Gold, riches…” the pirate drawls, picking up a golden photo frame from Minho’s dresser, one that he keeps a pressed flower inside of instead of a painting. “This is pretty. I’ll be taking it,” he throws it carelessly into a satchel tied securely at his waist, “and the maps.” his eyes sparkle. “Seen any maps across the castle, have you, pretty?” 

Gulping, Minho shakes his head in what he hoped is a convincing matter, hands wrapping around himself to make sure the maps were still secured and close to his body. Unfortunately for him, the papers rustle beneath his clothes and both men freeze, Minho feeling like a deer trapped in headlights as the pirate’s eyes light up with glee.

“That didn’t sound like clothes, especially not clothes for a royal,” he states, creeping closer and holding his knife out at arms length, ready to attack. 

“And you’d know this how?” Minho fights back, backing up until his back hits his bedpost and he knows there’s nowhere else to run unless he wants to get onto his bed, which will certainly _not_ give him any advantage. 

Luckily for him, he keeps a thin, long sword, similar to a cutlass, right by this particular bedpost, which this pirate has no idea about. If he gets any closer, Minho’s sword fight training may actually come in handy. 

“Oh, he does talk back, doesn’t he?” the pirate’s singing, the sound high and grating in Minho’s ears. “I’d wager you wouldn’t be so defensive if those papers weren’t anything of… _importance_.”

“You’re wrong,” Minho feels himself calming down, for some reason. “The papers in my pocket are of no importance. They’re merely recipes I have from the kitchen,” the lie slips off his tongue like honey. The pirate’s eyes widen in recognition.

“So you admit they’re papers!” he shouts in glee. “Then you won’t mind if I take a look at them, surely.” 

“Lay a finger on me and I’ll put my sword fight training to well-earned use,” Minho threatens. _Why_ haven’t his guards appeared yet? This pirate certainly isn’t keeping it down. 

“He puts up a fight too! This evening gets better and better,” the pirate bites back, taking a few _very large_ steps forward; challenging. “Show me what you’ve got then, _your majesty.”_

It’s definitely a mocking title, the way he says it, but Minho can’t bring himself to care any less as he grabs his sword and points it straight at the stranger, swinging it left and right in an attempt to disorient him before he makes his first lunge.

Blocked. 

Huh. That trick usually works on other people.

To his own credit, Minho puts up a pretty good fight for someone who’s never properly battled before. Of course, the others he has battled in training can’t logically hurt him or else risk being hanged for treason on account of hurting a member of the royal family, so for once, Minho has to admit it was kind of refreshing for someone to genuinely fight him. 

“Ha!” The pirate yells, lunging forward and aiming straight for Minho’s throat, clearly thinking he’s finally won. But a keen eye and swift movement from Minho has him blocked by the prince’s sword, and the pirate finds his arms locked in place, fear beginning to replace the triumph in his face. 

One of the first skills Minho had ever been taught in sword fight training was how to block someone going straight for the throat. It’s a pocketbook attack strategy; one of the easiest to block by far once you know how to do it… too bad this pirate is oblivious to that. 

“ _Checkmate,_ ” Minho whispers, and none too gently rips the knife from his hands, placing both weapons on the bed behind him and dusting his hands off. “Now, where were we? You have ten seconds to explain what you want the maps for or I’m calling the guards.”

“So you admit you know where the maps are-”

“I won’t admit to anything until you tell me what you need them for. Seven seconds.”

Silence. If the pirate’s cheeks look a little red, Minho ignores the sight and tells himself it’s just the candlelight.

“Six-” 

The pirate shifts, and doesn't meet Minho’s eyes. 

“Five-” 

There is only the candlelight to illuminate them, but there is a certain blaze in the pirate’s gaze. Minho isn’t sure if he likes it directed at him. 

“Four…”

God, where are his guards?”

“Three-_

Does he actually have the nerve to go through with this? With an _actual pirate_? 

“Fine.” the pirate grits his teeth painfully, and looks as if he could rip something apart with his bare hands out of pure frustration as he started talking. “We know there’s a map somewhere within your lovely castle, got it? We need that map.”

“And why do you need one particular map?”

“We just do, alright!” the smaller man sighs agitatedly. “No more explanation. Now tell me where it is and we can part ways.”

“And what if I don’t?” 

The pirate starts to laugh. “Then your castle and kingdom faces the consequences.”

As if on cue, Minho begins to become more aware of the sounds coming from outside his open window and he runs over to it, looking out to see more pirates dotted over the rose gardens, clearly winning their battle against the palace guards. In running to the window, he’s unintentionally left both his sword and the pirate’s knife on the bed unattended.

Rookie mistake.

Two blade tips press against his back, right in between his shoulder blades. 

“You may be a good swordfighter, but by god that was a stupid mistake you made, leaving our blades all alone,” the pirate whispers, directly into Minho’s ear. If Minho shivers a little bit, that’s only for him to know about and besides… there’s a draft coming in from the window anyway. “Now. You can tell me where the map is, or I can kill you and be left with free access to the palace and your family, seeing as I’m in here anyway.”

Map or no map, Minho knows the game is up. 

He turns around slowly, wincing as the pirate presses the blades deeper into his skin as an unspoken warning before he allows the prince to move. 

“I know where the maps are,” he admits, adrenaline surging through his body, and as he says it, something just _clicks_ within him.

If he goes on like this and becomes King, his life will be full of stress. No adrenaline like he’s experiencing right now, no feeling of freedom and ability like he just had felt whilst battling this pirate just mere minutes ago. He wants to _feel_ , he’s _sick_ of going through the motions and following rules. Call him selfish; even as future king, he’s still just a person! He swallows, hard.

“But if you want to know where they are, you have to take me with you, Back to the ship, and accept me as part of your crew.”

The pirate is visibly- and audibly- stunned into silence. One, two, three beats pass before he starts... laughing. Loudly. Incredibly loudly, right in Minho’s face, clutching his stomach and doubling over with mirth. 

“Oh, a strong one here!” he bellows, making Minho’s ears ring. “Take on Aebarrow’s beloved Prince just so he can sell us out to the authorities. And why would I do that when I could just kill you right here?”

Minho blinks in rapid succession. He knows he has absolutely no answer to that.

“Like you said, it would be a shame to waste such a pretty face,” he says instead, and the pirate laughs again. 

“A good sense of humour, I’ll credit you that. Tempting…. But no.” 

The dagger starts pressing into his throat just enough to start drawing blood when Minho breaks. 

“Fine!” he throws his hands up in desperation. “I need to escape. I never wanted this life. I want to be _free,_ to roam the sea every day and fight and explore and have adventure. I’m wasted in this life,” he admits, having absolutely no shame in admitting his deepest thoughts in this near-death experience. Worst case scenario, he’ll be dead within the next few minutes so he won’t even be able to regret it later anyways. “I’ll never find any semblance of happiness the way I’m going right now… Besides, I’m a great fighter.” 

The pirate’s eyes glitter, and something unreadable passes through his face before he speaks up, voice hushed. “A stray,” he whispers, before backing up and stashing his dagger back in his belt, closing his eyes momentarily. “I swear if this goes wrong…” he whispers to himself, before stepping right back into Minho’s personal space, pressing their faces close- too close- together. 

“Ok. I don’t know why I’m saying okay, but just this once, I’ll humour this. But I swear on every higher power that you put one _toe_ wrong and this dagger won’t hesitate again, got it rich boy?” he threatens, and Minho nods wordlessly. 

“Ok. Now, the map.” Blond Stranger holds his hand out. 

“I have them on my person. I’ll hold up my end of the deal if you don’t ditch me and leave me anywhere,” Minho says back curtly, refusing to give him access to the maps for fear of being betrayed. This is a split-second choice; to give up everything he had, but he isn’t going to let himself be swindled out of it so easily. The pirate scowls.

“Alright, fine. Show me so I know you’re not lying.”

Minho pulls the papers out of his pocket, flattening them between his hands and holding them into the moonlight to prove they were real, before tucking them back into his pockets safely, patting them smugly. “Let’s go.” 

**

“Aye, Captain. We have… a new crew member,” Blond Stranger, who had introduced himself as Han Jisung on their escape out of the palace and onto the (admittedly rather grand, for a pirate ship) vessel waiting in the harbour, announces as the rest of the crew sprint back aboard, immediately assuming what Minho guesses are their positions on the ship to set sail before any palace ships can sail after them and fire cannons, sinking their ship before they have a chance to escape. “Stay here, pretty boy.” The words sound sour coming from Jisung’s mouth as he all but shoves Minho into the middle of the ship and immediately hurries away, heading for the ship rigging. 

(Since they got out of the city, Jisung had taken a rather rough hold around both of his shoulders with hard fingers and had refused to let go and “risk his Royal Highness bolting to tattle-tale on the rest of the nobility”. Minho had visibly bristled at that, and scowled at the thought of this pirate not trusting his word, but it made sense, so he did not struggle for the most part.)

“A what?” a slightly smaller man than Minho barks as he runs to the top deck to scout for any followers they may have. “Was this necessary-” his gaze locks with Minho’s, who immediately feels tiny under the captain’s scrutinizing eyes. “The Prince? Jisung, I _told_ you-”

“We made a deal,” Jisung interrupts calmly as he casually climbs the rigging and throws himself into this- this strange circular platform up by the flagpole. Minho shudders at the mere thought of being up there voluntarily. Heights are possibly his biggest fear, and having to climb out of his bedchamber window has been enough terror for a lifetime- arguably, he had felt more fear then than when Jisung had held a knife against his neck. 

“He has the maps, but only agreed to let us have them if he could come with us too.”

“Why did you agree?” A raven-haired man with a very muscular build snarls. “He could sell us out to the royals and have us caught in a heartbeat.”

“He said some shit… I don’t think he’ll betray us,” Jisung’s voice is small, and that surprised Minho- but it’s back to his usual confidence again when he next speaks, “and besides. He knows full well that I won’t hesitate to kill him if he does step out of line.” 

“Shit, guards!” a tall crew member yells, tossing their telescope up to Jisung, who catches it deftly and swings dangerously out of his platform _thing_ , holding on to one side of the wood for dear life. “We have to go _now_.” 

The captain runs his hands through his- messy brown- hair in frustration, looking torn. Finally, he lets out a frustrated yell and locks gazes with Minho once more. 

“One step out of line and you’re straight overboard, got it?” 

Minho nods wordlessly again, not knowing what else to do. A lone blue-haired boy is looking incredibly out of place on the opposite end of the deck, held in a rough headlock by the same person who’s stood with their other hand on the wheel of the ship. _Strange._

“Alright, all hands on deck!” The captain yells, and the ship stirs to life as everybody assumes their positions and Minho stands, out of place, watching as adrenaline and excitement flowed freely through him as the ship leaves the harbour, and immediately begins to gain speed as the night stays just as dark as ever. 

Minho watches, and _feels_ , as the ship sails faster, the winds and waves get stronger, and his kingdom shrinks smaller; smaller until he can hold up one hand and have it cover its entirety. 

Call it running away from unwanted responsibilities and lifestyle, call it incredibly irresponsible and selfish, Minho doesn’t care- but as the wind picks up and Minho feels it ruffling his hair, his clothes, winding around his skin even despite his extravagant layers of clothing, Minho lets himself smile the biggest smile he thinks he’s ever smiled and _breathes_ , lifting his arms a little to feel the wind even more, completely unaware to the mixed- mostly confused or mocking- reactions he was getting from the crew. 

What he’s just done may have been utterly stupid, and reckless; he could wind up dead within hours and he has no idea whether he can trust anyone at _all_ to not kill him; Minho is fully aware of it all and then some, but…

Already, he is feeling freer than he ever has in his whole life.


	2. chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> who was the blue-haired mystery mentioned at the end of chapter one? we find out today <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick warnings for this chapter: warnings: implicit threats, moderate violence, pain, swearing, temporary small spaces. 
> 
> HELLO hello!! welcome back to chapter two. another character is introduced today, as well as a little of the crew ;)) i hope you enjoy! things are beginning to piece together, little by little!

July 29th, 2019. 

The sun beats down onto the tarmac pavement that a young boy of nineteen-and-a-half walks down, his feet bouncing and body bursting with energy in his bright blue trainers. He’s wearing a lilac crop top that's soft material falls to just above his navel, and the skinny jeans he’s wearing flatter his leg structure very prettily. Bobbing his dyed- blue hair (a very light shade, he’d instantly loved it when he had finished dyeing it at home just a mere couple of hours ago) to the beat of the music blasting through his earphones, he beams brightly at everybody he passes; bends down to pet a dog excitedly. Lee Felix, Levanter Town’s resident Ray of Sunshine who’s well-known for his smiles and positivity. 

All in all, he’s perfectly content, as far as the topic goes. Felix has his whole life planned out: finish college and come away with his dance degree; become a choreographer; maybe even get a tattoo at some point. He plans to earn a good living and if things go well, maybe he can even become well-known in the dancing world. He’ll definitely adopt a few dogs!! Live life the fullest and make the best of every situation he finds himself in; for he prides himself on his optimism above all else. 

Above all of his pretty normal life aspirations, though, Felix has an... underlying  _ feeling  _ that he’ll somehow miss out on everything life has to offer. Although he’s quite literally chasing his dreams and is closer than ever to achieving his goals in early life, he feels that as soon as he finishes university he’ll have to get a job, and he’ll be out of time to go out into the world and experience all of life’s adventures. 

Despite his positivity and ability to see the good in most situations, Felix can’t escape the sinking sensation that he isn't achieving what he  _ could  _ be achieving. 

It isn’t like he’s missed out on any opportunities; or has lived a risk-free life thus far. In fact, it’s been quite the opposite: Felix is a  _ huge  _ opportunist and never misses a chance to try new things or take huge risks- so long as they’re safe. But he has interests in a lot of  _ other _ things outside the world of dance too that he would have loved to put to good use in alternate career choices, and honestly, he feels restricted having only been able to choose one single path to devote the rest of his life to. 

_ Adventure is _ the word he’s thinking of. The word that he’s missing. 

Regardless, he is  _ determined  _ to live his life to the fullest no matter what happens, and try not to dwell on what his life  _ could  _ be. He’s literally on his way to having his dream career, dammit!- There’s no use longing after any other life! Despite how weighty this topic feels, Felix swears down that it matters very little to him.

Really.

After hugging his mother goodbye that morning, he had left the house after dyeing his hair with the intention of showing his friends, who have no idea of what he’s done to his hair yet, and are lounging at the beach due to the hot weather and perfect opportunities to perhaps swim in the sea later. 

Logically, the boy could- or maybe  _ should-  _ have worn shorts and yes, he’s sweating in his skinny jeans, but they make his ass look  _ good _ , and how can he pass up an opportunity to wow everybody with his new look as much as possible? What can he say- he lives to serve.

Humming a happy tune that he accompanies by drumming his hands onto his thighs as he walks, Felix rounds a corner and grins as the pavement slowly turns to sand the further he goes, before giving way fully to hot, golden sand. 

“Hey, guys!” He greets once he spots his friends, all of them full of enthusiasm for the day ahead as he playfully shoves one of his best friends, Hanada Asahi, to one side of his towel so that Felix himself can flop down beside him and throw his legs over the other’s. “I dyed my hair!” 

The group, presently made up of four people including Felix, erupt into gasps of approval and compliments, and Felix positively shines under their praise, glad that they all like it as much as he does. The blue shade matches the lightest part of the sea beautifully; and each boy takes their damn time ruffling the slightly dried-out locks until Felix looks like he’s been dragged through a hedge backwards. 

School had ended just a week ago, and now the group is using every single day to hang out together and enjoy the freedom of being unburdened by work, assignments and deadlines. It’s a truly blissful type of feeling; freeing, and as a small breeze ruffles Felix’s hair just a little bit more as he stares out at the sea, and his friends laugh and talk around him, Felix knows he’s content. 

“I don’t know, man, I’m kinda yearning for adventure this summer,” Felix tunes back into the conversation to hear another of his friends, a younger boy called Yoon Jaehyuk, say to the group. “I want a storybook type of life.”

“And there’s nothing stopping you from getting just that!” Bang Yedam, who had shuffled across the collection of towels to sit beside Felix, reaches out to ruffle Jaehyuk’s dark hair. “You gotta seize the opportunity.” 

Jaehyuk laughs loudly, full of life. “What opportunity?” he giggles, throwing his hands up into the air and falling back into the sand, uncaring of the grains that will inevitably be left in his hair. “I need to  _ see  _ the opportunity first.”

“It’ll come,” Felix pats the boy atop his head a few times; reassuring him. “You’ll get your storybook adventure, I know it! Maybe all of us will, too.”

“Maybe he’ll get kidnapped by pirates,” Asahi snickers. “He and Felix certainly swear like them.”

“Or become a wizard!” Yedam chips in. 

Jaehyuk’s eyes widened. “That would be so  _ cool, _ ” he breathes, eyes as round as saucers. “Imagine if one day I just woke up with magical powers or something.”

The group laugh amicably at his childlike wonder. 

“Imagine, indeed,” Felix whispers, looking back out to the sea crashing relentlessly against the shore in repetitive waves. “The possibilities…”

“Imagine the freedom of living a fantasy,” Asahi had stopped laughing at Jaehyuk by now and is, like Felix, staring out to sea as the breeze ruffles his white-blond hair. “It’d be so freeing. You wouldn’t be burdened by real life’s responsibilities and truths.”

“Oh my goodness, Asahi is getting deep on us, guys,” Yedam snickers. “Sure, you’d be free of this life’s responsibilities, but in fantasies there are much  _ bigger _ monsters, that embody life’s downfalls, that will come after you.”

“And you said Asahi was deep! What an intellectual you are, Yedam,” Felix chimes in. “But Asahi’s right. The freedom from this life does indeed sound appealing.” 

“Well,” the group falls silent as Jaehyuk speaks again, “in the future, adventure may seize us. But for now? The last one to the sea is a bitch!”

*** 

The sun is setting, tide racing in and almost licking at the sand dunes at the back end of the beach, so for once the usually densely populated stretch of sand is empty and quiet, save from the constant shushing noises of the waves. Humming a songless melody to himself as he walks back home, his back turned against the setting sun, Felix bounces along the pavements whilst bouncing a small rubber ball that he’d been presented by Jaehyuk earlier that day. It’s small, and has a brightly-coloured, marbled pattern on it; every boy had received one from their friend and had found great entertainment in throwing them at each other for what had felt like hours. They’d even built huge mounds of sand just to perch the balls on top of them in victory. Felix’s sand mound was victoriously the biggest, and in the end they had all chipped in and decorated it with shells before making a small well in the top to deposit their bouncy-balls in;  _ “a bouncy ball shrine” _ , Asahi had labelled it.

Enjoying the repetitive act of bouncing the ball against the pavement on his way home, Felix had the intention of jolting away all of the sand that had stuck to the rubber throughout their fun. His exposed arms and midriff are in a similar sandy state, and his hair is stiff from the sea salt: but that sounds like a problem for  _ Future  _ Felix to handle, when he gets home and is equipped with shower wash, conditioner and hot, running water. 

Bounce, step, bounce, step, bounce, step.

How Felix finds such amusement in watching the tiny ball bounce around, he has no idea. Bounce, step, bounce. Bounce, step, bounce, bounce- oh. 

The ball hits an angled part of the pavement and is sent careening off into an alleyway full of foul-smelling trash bags. Cursing under his breath, Felix walks into the alleyway, not wanting to touch anything in there and hoping to everything that the ball will be easily found…

_ Ah, good. _ That was almost too easy- it had bounced off a bin bag and is now rolling back directly towards Felix, so he didn’t even have to look for it! Result. 

But wait… 

As Felix’s hand stretches towards the ball, his eyes subconsciously rake over the ground for any stray animals that may come flying out of the shadows towards him, but there are no visible dangers ready to spring,  _ thankfully. _

What there  _ is _ , though, is a worn and slightly yellow scroll of paper, sitting untouched and suspicious, just a few feet away from him.

Curious- and never one to back down from his curiosity- Felix bends down, hunching over the strangely rolled piece of paper. In contrast to every other thing in this alleyway, this paper looks pristine and untouched- albeit very old- perfectly rolled up and tied with elastic, whereas everything else within eyesight is either tied up in black trash bags, or is being blown about by the evening breeze. Strangely, this… roll? Scroll?- isn’t moving at all in accordance to the breeze, as light as it may look. But as Felix pokes it with his finger, he discovers it isn’t glued down to the floor, nor is it heavier than any other normal piece of rolled-up paper. Is this some sort of science joke? 

He picks it up, standing and brushing his knees off as he unrolls the paper, slipping the elastic band from it around his wrist for safekeeping. It appears to be… a map? Perhaps one of the local kids is having a themed birthday party and they’ve lost one of their party props. He can hear lots of screams and laughter coming from a nearby backyard, and if he stands on his tiptoes and jumps a little he can just about glimpse the top of a bouncy castle. Yeah, a pirate-themed birthday party, that must be it. 

And who is Felix to spoil their fun? He decides he must return the map immediately.

Spinning on his heel, he moves to turn out of the alleyway and make his way down the street to knock at what he hopes will be the right door, but as he walks back down the narrow alley, a rather unsettling groaning noise from the wall stops him in his tracks. 

“Hello?” he asks, and mentally kicks himself straight away.  _ Dumbass. Saying ‘hello’ at a spooky noise is exactly how characters get killed in horror movies. _

Keeping that in mind, he stops looking for the source of the noise immediately and speeds up his walking, almost breaking into a run in his eagerness to leave the alley before things get any worse.

But much to the opposite of his luck, once entering the alleyway, luck doesn’t seem to want to be on his side anymore. 

A cloaked figure steps out of the shadows, their presence making fear immediately rise in Felix’s throat as they block his path, alarm bells ringing in every part of his mind. The figure is small and hunched over as if they’re in pain, and are dressed completely in black, although they seem… unreal, somehow. Their features, and even cloak, have no distinguishing dimensions, and they look almost as if they’re simply a shadow, 2D in appearance, except from the fact that they’re  _ standing upright and very palpably in front of Felix _ . Heart rate speeding right up, Felix is sure he’s now somehow trapped in some sick sort of horror movie. He takes a deep breath in, ready to scream for help. 

His eyes dart around the alleyway, looking for somewhere to jump to at least gain a little more height on the figure. Throughout highschool Felix had been a part of his school’s parkour club, so logically, he knows that if this… figure… got any closer, he could perhaps try and parkour his way out of it? 

It wouldn’t be the first time he’d had to put his parkour skills to actual use- just don’t tell his parents, as they would not be pleased to hear about the time he’d actually successfully outran the police. Hey, it was one time!

“Don’t be afraid,” the figure says, their voice sounding gentle and high. “I am only here to give this to you.” They hold out a small, plastic tube cupped in two bony hands that shake just slightly. Felix shakes his head, trying to edge past them.

“No thank you, I’m not into drugs,” he tries to appease them and be polite as he scoots through the narrow gap between them and the wall, pressing himself into the stone behind him as the person holds their hands out, even closer to him.

“No drugs. I insist,” their eyes become visible; inhumanly huge and haunting behind their hood, “take it.”

Felix has already had enough of this experience and wants nothing more than to escape so he could get back home and raid his fridge for snacks- so he figures that if he takes the damn tube then he’ll be left alone, right? So Felix; poor, naive Felix, takes the tube in between two fingers, and opens his mouth to thank the figure before bolting-- or at least that was the plan; but this ‘plan’ flies straight out of the window when something very strange happens: something that halts those very moves before he could so much as blink.

Felix’s feet are swept clean away from beneath him, but he doesn’t fall to the floor. Out of nowhere, he’s suspended midair, on his front, and the wind has picked back up within a single second; uncharacteristically strong for such a hot day, and  _ so _ strong in fact, that he can feel himself being swept away from the alleyway by it, like a strong current out at sea. He can feel the wind grasping him, right around his exposed middle, and he wants to yell out, but the icy fingers of air tighten around him; inescapable and supernatural and suffocating-

He opens his mouth to scream, only to find that no sound comes out, and the hand that had closed around the tube feels completely paralysed; his other arm has movement, though, and he tries to claw at something;  _ anything _ , to gain stability, but his attempts are fruitless as the hooded figure waves silently before melting back into the shadows, and Felix is swept  _ up _ , up, and away; heartbeat drowning out every other sound apart from the howling wind as he fights desperately to stop his vision from going black.

But he’s fighting a losing battle, and the last thing he sees is his beloved hometown getting further and further out of reach and the previously sunset-coloured sky darkening, darkening... before everything 

goes 

  
  
  


**black.**

  
  


*****

  
  
  


_ Cramped _ . 

That’s the first thing Felix feels as he blinks his eyes open, and once he does he gasps loudly; trying to move his limbs, but to no avail. He can’t move. His spine is bent at an incredibly painful angle and all four of his limbs are bent inwards. He can only move his neck, and  _ that _ is with immense difficulty. 

Taking a second to regulate his breathing and assess his surroundings, Felix’s brain finally kicks in and he realises that the reason why his eyes aren’t working is because it’s  _ dark. _ Incredibly so; the type of darkness that threatens to absorb your very eyes the longer you look into it. The type of darkness that Felix hates; is even a little afraid of. The darkness seems to radiate  _ more _ darkness… thick, thick darkness… its very presence seems to absorb the little oxygen that there is for Felix to breathe in.

Throwing his head back against the boundaries he feels himself being confined in, the blue-haired boy tries to get a feel for what he’s being held captive in. It’s like nothing he’s ever felt before- mostly because he’s  _ never been held hostage in any form of container before. _ He wriggles a hand free, bending his arm at an uncomfortable angle to stroke the walls of this- wooden, he discovers- ing. He is still upright, thankfully, although he is folded up like a human deckchair, and so he starts checking his leg muscles, bit by bit, to make sure he has no injuries. If he wants to escape, he’ll need his legs. 

Toes, flex. No pain. Feet, flex. No pain. Calves, flex. No pain. It carries on this way until he tries, painstakingly, to jiggle his knees around a little, and winces at feeling a sharp pain right below his left knee- although it can’t be  _ too _ bad; he’ll have noticed any pain already if he were badly injured. 

The muscle flexing and bone wiggling continues until he reaches the tops of his legs, and so, satisfied that he at least has good leg movement still, he tries to shift his weight from his butt to his feet by rocking forward a little. This sends the wooden space he’s confined in hurtling to the right a little, but he manages to throw himself back, against the falling motion, and balances it out again. 

Now that his weight is on his feet, how in the world is he going to get his arms free? There’s physically no room in this-

_ Barrel. _

_ That’s what I’m in, _ Felix realises, as he moves the toe of his shoe around the base of the barrel. Of course. He’s being held hostage in a barrel… somehow. 

How had he got there in the first place? The last thing he remembers is the looming figure in the alleyway; the plastic tube and then being grasped by the wind and pulled away from his comfortable, happy life and hometown… where even  _ is _ he, now, then? 

For the first time since gaining consciousness, terror spikes in Felix’s heart, sending shockwaves throughout his entire body in continuous ripples. He isn’t a claustrophobic person at all, but boy, was he beginning to feel like one. What is he supposed to do? Has he been kidnapped? He can’t yell for help; his voice is stuck in his throat and besides, who would he be alerting besides his potential kidnappers? Is he alone? How can he escape?  _ Can _ he escape? Where is he? How- 

Felix holds his breath; heartbeat so loud that he’s sure that anybody else within a mile radius can hear it too, and crosses his fingers so tight that he’s sure they could break. 

“Dammit. Why the hell are there so many barrels,” he hears a faraway voice say, and squeezes his eyes closed as if that would add a protective barrier to his body. 

Whoever had entered wherever Felix was, luckily, only spent a few minutes banging about in some faraway part of the area, and he couldn’t hear the person come anywhere near him. Soon the voice recedes, their footsteps heavier than before. Felix guesses they’re carrying something heavy, perhaps. Hopefully it isn’t another person. 

_ How long am I going to be here until I’m found? _ He thinks, eyes straining to make out even a little bit of light that would allow him to, at least, see his fingertips.No avail. 

Maybe if he tips the barrel over like he almost had done before… 

Bracing himself for impact, Felix throws himself sideways and, predictably, topples right over. Having used his whole body weight to do this, the wood splinters upon impact, and Felix is glad he’d kept his eyes closed when he feels splinters press into his skin, through his clothes, and dangerously close to his screwed-shut eyelids. 

“ _ Shit _ ,” he curses, stretching his stiff arms above his head and  _ finally _ extending his legs, which feel as if they’re made of wood themselves. Sighing as he bends and unbends his knees, flexing his toes and feeling the blood flow return to his legs, he realises that the room he’s in is also made primarily of... wood?  _ Strange. _ It even smells like it too- mixed with a strange, but not necessarily bad, scent of…  _ something _ he couldn’t quite place. The room is only dimly lit, by candles in jars- a horrible choice for a room made of  _ wood _ for goodness’ sake, but it provides quite aesthetic lighting, if you think about it. In a different time; a different place, and maybe with the right person, it could even be romantic. Looking around in his newfound surroundings, Felix can see nothing but barrels, barrels… and wooden boxes. 

The realisation hits Felix that he might not be the only one trapped in a barrel and he gasps, using weak legs to crawl over to the nearest one and uses a weak fist to bang on it, hard as he can. It sounds full… but of what?    
  
“Hello?” he whispers, voice hoarse and almost refusing to be used, “is anyone else trapped here too?” 

Silence. 

“Okay, so I’m apparently the only one,” Felix whispers, using weak arms to turn his body around so that he’s sitting, legs straight out in front of him, leaning against the barrel he had just knocked on. Maybe once his legs gain strength he’ll be able to stand and can take a walk about the room? 

But why’s he feeling… just ever so slightly… seasick?

It’s truly illogical. He knows it is. Yes, Felix lives in a seaside town, but there are no ships to be found- at least not those made of wood and containing candles and barrels. It’s a huge hazard, to have candles lighting so much wood, even if they  _ are _ encased in what looked like glass jars to stop the flames from spreading; so of course none of the cruise ships or other boats that would come to dock near the beach would be made of wood like this. This has to be some kind of sick prank. Felix is feeling slightly nauseous because of the whole  _ surreality  _ of the situation, that’s all! It’s perfectly common for people to feel as though they’re moving even when they’re laying completely still. 

“This isn’t funny anymore,” Felix sings with wobbly notes, uneasiness prominent in the way his voice trembles. “You can come out now…”

But wait- hang on. Felix still has his phone! He pulls it out of his back pocket with shaking fingers, untangling his headphone wires from where they’re wrapped around the screen with difficulty and pressing the home button.

The screen lights up, but is completely devoid of the date and time. 

_ Huh? _

Turning the phone off completely before powering it back on again, Felix’s heartbeat seems to  _ deepen _ within his chest; feeling like it’s consuming his entire torso as the screen remains blank of any indication of the day and time. There’s no signal to be found, either, and when he checks to see if his data is being used, he discovers that it refuses to work too. 

Ok, no big deal. Felix is just stuck in an unknown setting, possibly a hostage situation or something similar, and for some reason his phone isn’t showing the date and time; not to mention there being no signal for him to reach the emergency services with?

He’s definitely, truly, alone.

Footsteps bang overhead like gunshots, and Felix squeaks in fright. 

“What the hell,” came an unfamiliar voice from above, and before Felix could realise what was happening, heavy footsteps started descending and got closer to him with every heartbeat, every step. He doesn’t know or recognise that voice at all. He has to  _ hide _ . 

Legs feeling like jelly but body fueled by adrenaline and fear, Felix leaps to his feet and falls behind a new row of barrels, legs giving way once he makes it. He winces and prays that the noise he’d made when falling wasn’t audible to this stranger.

“What the  _ hell _ ,” the voice says again, louder and angrier this time. Footsteps rapidly approach the space that Felix had just inhabited, and-  _ oh, shit, yeah. _

Felix had forgotten about the barrel he’d left smashed open and splintered in plain sight. 

Fuck, he’s screwed. 

“Alright, game’s up, stowaway!” the voice yells, and the person claps their hands in rapid succession, each clap sounding piercing to Felix’s eardrums. “I know you’re in here. Show yourself or I'll kill you on sight!” 

And what in the world is Felix supposed to do? He’s found himself in some sort of hostage situation, but apparently this person didn’t even know Felix was there- was he supposed to be there at all?- and now this same person is threatening death at the drop of a flag? His mind blanks; he’s at a complete loss of what to do. 

Choosing to stay silent, Felix screws his eyes closed once more, curling himself into a tiny ball and praying to every single deity he knows about that he wouldn’t be shot on the spot. Or whichever other murder method this person was going to use. He’s too young to die, dammit!

Footsteps echo around the room, and Felix feels his eyes welling up with tears.  _ Now is not the time for crying. _

“Come out, come out,” the voice chants, getting closer to Felix’s hiding spot every second. Felix forces his eyes open and scans the area around him- what could he use as a weapon? At this point, he doubts this mystery person  _ isn’t _ armed, so the physical self-defense he had learned in highschool would probably be ineffective. 

_ Come on, come on…  _ Barrels- 

“I can hear your breathing,” the person sings.

Boxes- 

“Ah, I see you now, stowaway-”

A metal rod! HA! How convenient-

Felix wastes no time in grabbing the rod and swinging, hitting his predator in the shin,  _ hard _ , before he leaps to his feet to dart past the man (he could see that it is, in fact, a man now)- and hopefully with his surprise attack he can manage parkour his way the hell outta dodge. 

“Ha!” The man cackles and grabs Felix, immediately pulling him into a painful headlock. “I have a metal leg, try harder next time. Now…” he pulls a shiny metal knife out of his pocket and holds it at arm’s length for Felix to see, “What do we have here? A pretty boy with blue hair.”

Felix squirms and wriggles and struggles with all of his might, but his attempts are futile. The man has him right where he wants him. 

Felix wracks his brain desperately: back home, he was notorious for his self-defense skills; had even taught a few moves to a class of younger children once or twice, but in this unfamiliar scenario, after undergoing such  _ unprecedented and terrifying _ events? His brain is mush; his limbs hanging like dead weights.

“And what is he  _ wearing? _ ” the man continues, seemingly aware of his outfit now. “I’ve never seen anything like this in all my nineteen years of living.” 

Oh. This boy is Felix’s age. Good to know before he dies. 

“But questions aside,” the man doesn’t stop in his commentary for a single minute, “what is he doing,  _ all the way down here? _ ” he sings the last part, angling his knife towards Felix’s throat threateningly but not making contact with his skin just yet. 

Felix chokes slightly on his spit, not stopping in his struggle to get away and refusing to speak a word. 

“Is he refusing to talk?” The silence in between speech stretches on and on, and Felix wonders if it only seemed so long because he knows he won’t be making it out of that room alive.

“A pity.” the knife presses into the soft flesh of Felix’s throat, and he lets out a quiet whimper, closing his eyes and just waiting for it to be over.

.

.

.

.

.

So why isn’t he dead yet? 

“God’s sake,” the man complains, tossing the knife away at the sound of new footsteps above them, sounding like lots of people in quick succession. Wherever they are, they now have company. “Looks like I’ll have to turn you in for the Captain to decide your fate after all.”

Not loosening his hold on Felix at all, the man drags him up a small set of wooden stairs and-  _ fresh air at last _ . 

But- wait.

_ What the hell _ ? 

It seems Felix was right in his suspicions after all, for instead of being greeted with tarmac, or even  _ ground in general,  _ Felix finds himself on the top deck of a pirate ship, surrounded by water. 

A pirate ship, populated with pirates wearing clothes that make them look as if they were straight out of a period drama. 

Very  _ real _ pirates… 

Locking gazes with another apparent hostage dressed very differently, clearly richer than the rest of the crew, who’s been left on deck by another crew member, Felix exhales as the sea air hits his face, wet with tears. 

As much as he had dared to hope, it looks like the only way off this ship truly was by death. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EEEEEEEE well,,, felix is here now! sure, the circumstances aren't ideal but surely he must have been chosen for a reason... ;)  
> i hope you enjoyed this chapter! now we're all on the ship we can really start our journey of getting to know the crew as the plot starts to speed up.  
> thank you for reading, kudos and comments are always appreciated and also great motivation!  
> <3


	3. chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “No map. But bread!” Jeongin’s voice is free of the exertion of running, which is due to both his insane fitness and the fact that he had only just begun running. Both Chan and Changbin know that even if he had been running for the same amount of time as them, he still wouldn’t have even broken a sweat, being used to high-energy activities from day to day due to his highly energetic biology. If he wasn’t on his feet and moving about for most of the day, the boy would wind up practically vibrating with energy until he could expel it again. 
> 
> Luckily for him, a pirate’s life is full of hard labour and lots of energy was needed daily, so the profession fits him amazingly well.
> 
> “Well, at least-- one of us-- found- something worthwhile-” Changbin is quick to snap back, sarcasm thick in his voice despite the sentence being fragmented and broken apart by deep breaths. Jeongin scoffs. 
> 
> “It has fruit in it too! But if you don’t want this worthwhile bread, I’ll eat your share myself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick warnings for this chapter: mentions of violence, light threats.

**

The Strays.

Five notorious pirates who had found each other in some way or another; formed an unbreakable bond at sea and despite their tiny numbers had earned a reputation in the pirate community for their impressive success and abilities to defy all odds. 

Yes, five is an absolutely minuscule amount of people to have aboard such a huge ship as theirs; and this was a fact that didn’t go unnoticed by any other pirate ships. And perhaps it was the reason that the Strays are so well-known; having only five members aboard yet being fully functional as a crew, whereas other ships needed many more- some reaching even forty members- to fully work and function properly. But whilst the Strays all have multiple posts and jobs aboard the ship, they’re incredibly efficient and almost supernaturally good at covering everything that needs to be attended to. Other crews have tried and failed; somehow the Strays make it work. 

Had they ever felt the need to take on anybody else aboard their crew? No, as most other pirates had joined a crew because they were after instant riches and wealth; or wanted to be able to have some semblance of power over others- or even because they’d lost their jobs and needed to make money fast. But the Strays had formed because they had been, like their name, strays in life with no sense of direction or reason for being. They had found each other one by one, and had given each other a reason to exist; a direction in life and an outstanding love for being alive in itself. 

Captain Bang Chan, a young man but by no means the youngest of the crew; he had a couple of months at  _ least _ on every crew member, was the ship’s official leader, a man with resilience of steel and an aptness for decision-making and leadership; thus making him the perfect captain to elect out of the five boys who inhabited the ship. Unlike a lot of other pirate ships, whose captains could even gain reputations for their cruelty towards their crew in order to gain power over them, Chan was a fair captain who, apart from the times when he has to take control over others, treats everyone as if they’re on the same level, and not in some kind of pirate hierarchy. After all, hierarchy is for those living on  _ land _ . 

At sea, everything is positively teeming with freedom.

It’s also worth mentioning where the crew got their name from: though many believed that it had originated from their reputation of ruthlessness and violence skills that reminded people of rabid, savage animals, that really wasn’t the case. Pirates are mostly pacifist unless violence was necessary; and although the boundaries do tend to fluctuate from crew to crew, the Strays are no exception to this rule. The origin of their name is actually something much more sentimental: the fact that each crew member had once been alone in their life, unsure and alienated in their own stories before Chan ‘found’ them and added them to his crew, giving them a reason for being; a collection of Strays who had all found their reasons to strive and keep going.

But nobody aside from the crew knows that, of course. They all secretly love their terrifying reputation. 

  
  
  
  
  


**(timeskip: a few weeks earlier)**

  
  
  
  
  


“Captain,” One Han Jisung bursts into Chan’s headquarters; loudly and unapologetically, hence the formality to make up for it, “we have received word that rival crews, in particular the Reds, could soon come into possession with information that could possibly have our crew, as well as others, killed and our ships taken.”

Chan’s head shoots up from where he had been writing on a thick piece of parchment at his desk. “What?”

The Reds; the most deadly living pirate crew. Their captain was the very same pirate that had almost killed Jisung as a child, before Chan had found and rescued him just in time- and the rest of their crew were notorious for following their captain’s orders no matter what, like puppets on a string. Their captain had named them after the colour of blood and revenge. Whatever it was Jisung was talking about, they were the  _ last _ crew that needed to get their hands on information that could be used against the rest of the pirate community… but not to mention the fact that it would also be convenient that  _ other _ rival ships, who could be equally as evil and reckless, didn’t get too much power either.

“Yeah,” Jisung grins sheepishly. “So, you see, there’s a map that they’re after. Apparently it leads you to treasure but the treasure has powers in some way? And whatever it does, they’re determined to find out what it is and use it to their advantage against us.” 

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Chan sighs. “Typical. Where’s this map supposed to be?”

“It’s-”

“IT’S HIDDEN in the Royal Palace of Aebarrow,” Seo Changbin throws open the window at the other end of Chan’s headquarters to interrupt the younger, cackling loudly at his triumph over the blond. “No one has any idea where, but hey! If we were to… possibly get there before other rival ships catch word of the treasure… sneak into the palace… get the map.... And get rid of the treasure before anyone else gets a chance to use it against us… well, that would be pretty damn good, wouldn’t it? Not to mention convenient.” He pretends to check his nails under the sunlight. “Not to mention we’d hold supreme bragging rights over the whole pirating community afterwards.”

“Well, I’d think it’s more of doing good and saving all other pirates from the Reds’ wrath in particular than bragging rights, but yes, we’d have those too,” Chan chuckles. “Well… if others are inevitably going to target us and other ships after finding this so-called treasure with powers, we probably have no choice but to get ahead of the game and try and beat them there.”

“Right you are, chief!” Jisung claps to himself. “It’s adventure time!”

“Ok, so how far away from the palace are we?” Changbin chimes in, eager to know the details so he can relay them to their remaining crewmates, Kim Seungmin and Yang Jeongin- preferably telling them both at once, before Jisung has a chance to. He lives to tease the younger. It’s how he shows affection.

“It’s still around three weeks’ journey, so we won’t waste time. We’ll change course in the morning, it’s already midafternoon,” Chan announces, finality evident in his tone. 

“Aye aye!” Jisung chirps, and runs away after eyeing Changbin across the room, making the older spring into action too as he sprints out of the room too, via the same window he’d climbed in through. Chan laughs again as he hears the two practically falling over each other in their attempts to tell Seungmin and Jeongin the change of plans, full of teasing jabs and friendly shoves. 

Life aboard their ship is chaotic, but Chan wouldn’t have it any other way. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


****

  
  
  
  
  
  


The sea is calm; the waves moving like deep inhales and exhales after a storm has passed and made the waters rage just a day ago. The gentle give-and-take of the waves to the ship that sails upon them is a comfortable, consistent constant: never-ending and comforting repetitiveness of the ocean. A staple for every pirate; the thing on which their very lives are built. For without the sea, where would they sail?

It’s Yang Jeongin’s favourite state of the sea: it feels fresh to him; new, like the feeling of waking up early in the morning after a good night’s sleep. Secretly, it also makes him think of the way the earth would settle after an earthquake: slowly, but ultimately holding steady. His second favourite mood of the sea, however, is the stage just  _ before _ a storm; where the waves start to get choppier and the wind changes, howling faster as the ship begins to rock and creak. He can’t explain it; the feeling of exhilaration associated with future danger being addictive and inexplicable, but never failing to make excitement spark in his chest, spreading to the very tips of his fingers. 

It’s  _ magical _ . 

Sure, he also loves being on land, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of people going about their day, the hollers and bargains at open markets and fishmongers’ and dogs barking and children laughing and screaming, but on land, everything is so  _ tied down _ and regulated.

Jeongin  _ much _ prefers the freedom of the sea, and even when his crew docks for a few days at a time in new towns or cities, he would always choose to sleep on-ship, being unable to fully settle without the steady rocking of the boat as the waves send him off to sleep, like a mother to a child.

Anyway. Letting the winds comb through his hair like fingers, Jeongin stands in the middle of the deck, with his back to the ship’s pilot and boatswain, Kim Seungmin, who stays silent as he steers the ship through the peaceful waters, unaware as of yet to their change of plans in regards to their next destination. 

Everything is as it should be; chaos but organised; full of freedom and air. Everything is calm. Everything is right.

  
  


***

  
  


The three weeks of travelling to the kingdom of Aebarrow had passed without many hitches, much to everybody’s surprise; of course, they had had run-ins with other ships, but two out of five encounters had luckily been too far away for the Strays to have been attacked or fired at; another ship was a small one that was just passing and hadn’t attacked, and the last two had been other pirate ships passing them that had tried attacking them to no avail. The Strays were too well-prepared for attacks for their own good- or rather the enemy’s good- and blew holes straight into their decks before many opposing shots could be fired at their own ship, and the enemy crews had abandoned ship before long. 

  
  


(“This is too easy,” Jisung had bragged as they sailed away from the second wreckage they had caused, fire in his eyes from the adrenaline. 

“Don’t get too confident; pride always comes before a fall,” Seungmin had warned him, to which the blond had silently agreed with, and nodded pensievely. The look of triumph he wore never faded, though.)

  
  


“LAND!” Jisung yells from the crow’s nest. It’s honestly a dizzying height to be stationed at at all times of the day, but Jisung loves it, feeling absolutely on top of the world from his dizzying vantage point and having nothing but his telescope for company- that is, unless he is to yell down at his fellow crew members. But he doesn’t do that often- he would rather save his voice for when he isn’t on duty as a lookout, so he won’t wind up sounding hoarse and having a sore throat. 

Besides, he has enough company with his own thoughts to keep him entertained for the day, anyway. 

Had he not been born into such an unfortunate situation as he had; having been born out of wedlock and then abandoned by his mother at only a few days old- as was saddeningly common for a destitute mother to do in order to survive- Jisung was sure he would have been able to rise through social barriers and make a name for himself in the world of literature through his imagination and wit. But, almost saddeningly, he had been raised by thieves and had thrown away any chance of making it as a good man by the time he was eleven years old, when he decided to break free of the groups that held him so manipulatively and had tried; tried  _ so _ hard, to become good again. 

But the streets were no place for a young boy with such innocent intentions and such a corrupt background, and he had almost died out there in the cold, with no money for food, let alone an education that would help him build a good life for himself. 

When the word spread not one, but two enemy pirate ships were to visit town, he had been terrified, and hid away in the harbour, in between a clump of barrels that had been holding apples, beer and lagrange. He had thought that he was well-hidden, when a huge, fully armed pirate had found him and picked him up by the back of his shirt, leaving his legs flailing about pointlessly in the air and his eyes as wide as saucers just as the second ship was docking. He had screamed pointlessly- there had been no-one around to hear him, for every sensible person had been hiding- but he did not stop fighting against this tall, scarred pirate that gripped him so mightily. 

He admittedly didn’t remember much from that night, but he did remember two pirates sprinting off the new, much smaller ship, and heading straight for Jisung and the pirate that had grabbed him. Everything from there was blurry, but what he did know was that these two new pirates, who he had quickly learned were named Chan and Changbin, saved him from what had almost become a horrible death that night and gave him a place on their ship, as part of their crew. Jisung had been astounded that they didn’t try to kill him too, or sell him somewhere for gold, but after a few days aboard he quickly learned that a pirate would usually only ever kill as a last resort, but the pirate that had grabbed Jisung had been one of the most ruthless and remorseless pirates known to man, and certainly did not abide by a pacifist-unless-necessary lifestyle. Captain Caldwell of the Reds ship; the name was enough to make Jisung shiver in horror. He still thanked his lucky stars daily that the Strays had gotten to him in time, or else he would likely be dead now; and he had found such happiness aboard ship with his crew. 

After initially meeting Changbin and Chan, Jisung had then met Seungmin, and finally, Jeongin had joined them a few years later, when Jisung was just sixteen years old and Jeongin fifteen.

Unlike his early life amongst thieves who only gave him attention when they wanted him for his small body to crawl into tiny spaces and steal things; these pirates gave him a place, a reason for being. It was the closest thing to family and friendship he had ever experienced, and although it would likely kill him to admit it out loud, he did admittedly… love… his crew. 

(But if you ever heard Jisung vocalise it, he’d vehemently deny it for the rest of his life.) 

Being a pirate had not only given the whole crew- who had all been strays in some way before finding each other- a chance to get rich quickly despite some areas they may have lacked in education, but had also provided them with a safe space aboard their ship to be completely themselves; unbound to the law or any prejudices that existed on land. Whatever racial or religious differences existed on land were pretty much non-existent at sea, which the entire crew were immensely happy to acknowledge, having all been on the receiving end of prejudices or injustices in their lives inland in some way or another. 

So now, even though the crew bicker and argue, it was all with hidden fondness for one another and the jabs that are made at each other are all in good humour, and never taken personally- a refreshing change from the people on land, who are all very prim and proper and seem to take offense at the slightest implication. 

Some of the aforementioned people reside in the civilisation that the crew are currently sailing towards, in the bustling kingdom of Aebarrow. Famous for its city structure, riches and bread, Aebarrow is the kingdom in which its magnificent palace is situated directly in the centre of; guarded from all sides but also very susceptible to attack from all sides… So whether being directly in the centre of the kingdom is a blessing or a curse, Jisung has no idea. If  _ he _ had a castle, he’d have one side at  _ least _ on the waterline of the sea. That way they’d only be susceptible to attack from  _ three _ sides, not  _ every _ side. 

But that’s irrelevant- moving on. 

“ _ What _ a grand city!” Jeongin appears out of nowhere, waving his hands about regally as he forges an accent that only the king or queen could possibly have. “One might well think that it is  _ very _ quaint and wealthy.”

“How did you get up here?” Jisung hadn’t seen anyone climbing the rigging at all, nor had he felt the crow’s nest wobble as the youngest had obviously climbed in. 

“Irrelevant,” Jeongin chirps, his accent returning to its comfortable normality. “I wonder if their bread is really worth being famous for.”

“Do  _ not _ go stealing bread, Innie. We have to get the map,” Jisung rolls his eyes fondly and ruffles Jeongin’s dark locks before lifting the telescope to his eye again, squinting through it against the glare of the remaining sun that’s peeking over the horizon. 

The kingdom grows closer quicker than any of the crew initially thought; the currents in their favour and guiding them towards the harbour without Seungmin having to do much more than he usually does in terms of steering. By the time they make it into the harbour and dock properly, it was well into the night and the darkness covers their ship like an invisibility cloak, giving them an unstoppable feeling of stealth and power in not being seen as easily by whichever people may still be out and about in the cold night.

Seungmin is to stay on the ship whilst everybody else sneaks out into the kingdom in search of the castle and map; both because of the metal prosthetic leg he wears in place of his right leg making it harder to escape efficiently in the event of being caught by guards, but also because it’s always a good idea to keep at least one person guarding the ship and having it readied for quick escapes. One by one each pirate jumps off the boat, not bothering to set up the gangplank to walk across in favour of competing with each other to see who could jump the quietest from ship to land. (Jisung was always adamant that he’d win, but this time he loses by a mile after he loses his footing over the bulkhead and is sent tumbling arse over tit onto the ground with a colossal ‘oof’.) 

Chan’s broad form is the last thing Seungmin sees vanishing into the darkness before he turns around, combing his fingers through his caramel-coloured hair as he glances around the main deck, deeming everything ready and prepared enough for him to take a nice break for a few minutes. Being a pirate is a job that needs 24/7 attention; it’s nice to have some quiet time to himself when everyone gets offboard occasionally.

However, one downside to being alone on the ship, as much as he loved taking the time to recharge, is how  _ loud _ his mind and doubts become in the silence left behind by his crew. Usually he’d be able to hear the rest of them no matter where he was onboard; there’d always be at least one thing to hear, whether it was footsteps on the decks above if you were below deck, or voices and yells on the main deck as everybody attended to their individual responsibilities. 

Without the other four members who quite literally occupy Seungmin’s space and ears all day, every day, the silence felt rather heavy, and the young pirate would be lying if he said that paranoia isn’t ever so slightly eating away at him, or that the silence surrounding him didn’t feel as thick as a feather pillow. 

Seungmin shifts from food to foot in the darkness, letting the sound of the sea soothe his restless soul as he waits for his friends to come back. 

What if they never did? If they get caught by the royal guards and are sentenced to death immediately? Every pirate is well aware that if they’re caught, it’s the way of the law to immediately sentence them to death by hanging. And if even one crew member is hanged, it won’t be long before the rest of the crew, including Seungmin, are captured. 

The sea is admittedly doing little to calm him, so Seungmin decides it’s best to calm his nerves by making himself useful. This, he  _ can _ do. 

Maybe if he readies more of the ship for when everybody gets back.... If he readies the ship, they’ll have to return so they can see his hard work! 

And so he sets to work, rearranging barrels and scooping lagrange off the deck to fling back into their barrels by the handful; ready to load into canons at a moments’ notice. He doesn’t sweep the deck- that’s a daytime job and he doesn’t want to make the wood slippery when the sun isn’t in the sky to dry it- and instead walks back down the steps to the lower decks to the supplies deck to fetch some ale for when everybody comes back aboard. They can celebrate once they’re out of the harbour and back at sea! 

Since losing his leg a few years ago, Seungmin had been getting used to his metal- and surprisingly functional- prosthetic leg that attaches just mid-way down his thigh with leather straps. At first it had been excruciating: he had to first heal his leg (it had had to be amputated when an enemy ship attacked and used their canons to blow lagrange aboard the Strays’ ship; a lot of which made a painful surprise entrance into Seungmin’s skin and even bone, in some parts of his leg. He would have risked death to keep his leg, and so Jeongin, the ship’s medic, had had to amputate it, whilst Seungmin lay on the floor, unsuccessfully muffling screams of white-hot pain and downing strong alcohol to at least take away from the pain, and at most knock him out completely.) 

It had taken months for the wound to heal, and after that, Chan had come back from a brisk jaunt on-land, triumphantly holding a metal leg under one arm, which he fitted to Seungmin after measuring and filing it down to fit his height. The metal and leather had chafed awfully at his skin, and for the first few weeks he could barely balance, let alone walk on it. But now, years later, after endless patience and help from both the crew and himself, he had managed to battle through the pain, and now the skin beneath the prosthetic has grown calloused and thick; much less easy to chafe and break and his balance has now grown steady; he can even run with his leg now. 

It’s a painful memory to tell and relive, but overall, it’s a part of Seungmin that he’s proud of. It’s a part of his life now; his story. 

That doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s  _ loud _ when walking about the ship, though. His days of tip-toeing around were over, so no more midnight snacks are stolen from the cupboards for him unless he walks as slow as a sloth, and takes tiny, shuffling steps across the wood to minimize the banging. He decides that the forbidden treats aren’t  _ quite _ worth all of the effort after all.

“Dammit. Why are there so many barrels?” he muses to himself aloud as he walks over to the far corner of barrels in storage, picking the lid off one to reach inside for the bundles of meat they keep inside. Each package is coated in thick salt and then bound in paper, and tied with string to maximise the life of the food for as long as possible- but thankfully, because of the insatiable appetite of the crew, the meat is usually, if not always, devoured before it could begin to stink the lower decks out. 

Bundles in hand, he walks back up the stairs and sets about on the deck above to set everything out as it usually was done by Changbin. Seungmin is being nice today, doing the elder’s job for him. Maybe he’ll steal some of his food from his plate later and use the excuse that he’d done Changbin’s chore for him as an excuse to get away with it. He cackles quietly at the thought. 

He spends the next fifteen minutes fulfilling similar menial chores, setting the long table that the five of them share ready for their evening meal and then going above deck to make sure everything has been left untouched by the townspeople- and also to keep a lookout for any of his crew members coming back. Well, there are no flaming torches or angry men headed for the harbour yet, so that’s one good thing. But  _ where is his crew _ ? 

Besides that, Seungmin suddenly heard some sort of… scraping?... coming from below deck.  _ What in the world _ ? 

“Not rats again,” he whispers, and resolves to go back down to the supplies deck to check that there aren’t any rats chewing their way through the wood and into their much-needed supplies. It had happened before, and it hadn’t been pretty.

“What the hell?” He says aloud, hearing another noise from the same place below deck that definitely sounds like it weighs  _ way _ more than a rat, and he speeds up, making it into the room within seconds. 

No rats.

What there is, though- which  _ definitely _ hadn’t been there when he had been there a mere twenty minutes ago- is a barrel, upended and splintered and seemingly having completely broken into at least three pieces, on the floor.

No rat could have done that. These barrels are  _ sturdy _ ; it would take human strength to break one; especially as this one is now seemingly empty, judging by the lack of contents mixed in with the splinters and wood remains. Seungmin’s heart speeds up a little; his bravery resurfacing as his Survival Mode kicks in, preparing for anything and determined to deal with whatever’s about to happen.

“Alright, game’s up, stowaway!” he yells, clapping his hands loudly and harshly in order to try and gain an audible reaction and work out where the intruder was hiding. He’s certainly glad that as a pirate, he’s armed at all times. “I know you’re in here. Show yourself or I’ll kill you on sight!” 

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


“Captain, we’ve gotta give up  _ now _ ,” Changbin gasps urgently to the captain as they sprint through the streets of Aebarrow, away from the castle. After almost being caught by guards that are now hot on their heels, Changbin knows the game is up and unless Jeongin or Jisung have the maps already, they’ll have to give up for now. Enemy ships be damned, he isn’t about to get hanged, and nor will he allow it to happen to his crewmates. 

“I know,” Chan yells back. “Just get back to the ship and leave. No other option. Keep an eye out for Lookout and Medic.” In order to protect their identities (even though they didn’t wear face masks to hide their features), the crew uses code names related to their role on the ship when not aboard the safety of their beloved vessel. 

“Get back here, filthy pirates!” a guard positively screams behind them, putting so much force into his yelling that his voice breaks midway through. Changbin finds this  _ impossibly  _ funny and almost stops running so he can laugh loudly. 

“Not on our watch,” Chan’s eyes narrow as he speeds up, catching Changbin’s wrist in his hand and yanking him along to remind him of their predicament. Filthy pirates indeed. They’re actually  _ very  _ hygienic, thank you very much! 

“Oh, hey guys,” Jeongin walks leisurely out of a side-street to see his two crewmates sprinting at full speed towards him, and upon seeing the guards catching them up, his eyes widen and his hands tighten on the two bread buns he’d somehow acquired since splitting up with the crew; breaking into a run alongside the two older pirates. “I got bread!”

“But no map?” Changbin growls through his laboured breathing. 

“No map. But bread!” Jeongin’s voice is free of the exertion of running, which is due to both his insane fitness and the fact that he had only just begun running. Both Chan and Changbin know that even if he  _ had  _ been running for the same amount of time as them, he still wouldn’t have even broken a sweat, being used to high-energy activities from day to day due to his highly energetic biology. If he wasn’t on his feet and moving about for most of the day, the boy would wind up practically vibrating with energy until he could expel it again. 

Luckily for him, a pirate’s life is full of hard labour and lots of energy was needed daily, so the profession fits him amazingly well.

“Well, at least--  _ one _ of us-- found- something worthwhile-” Changbin is quick to snap back, sarcasm thick in his voice despite the sentence being fragmented and broken apart by deep breaths. Jeongin scoffs. 

“It has fruit in it too! But if you don’t want this worthwhile bread, I’ll eat your share myself.”

Finally, the ship comes into view, and the three runaways can already see two people hurrying onboard- Jisung and Seungmin, Chan guesses, although he has no idea why Seungmin would be off the ship in the first place- so the three speed up with renewed vigour, successfully losing the guards by speeding through one too many alley turns, but they don’t slow down for even a second; knowing they’ll be caught up with within seconds. 

“We’re back,” Chan yells as they all hurry aboard, pulling the gangplank up as the last person runs across and onboard to make the entrance of potential guards that little trickier as he uses the same gangplank to push off from the stone wall the ship is docked next to. It makes a little difference, but the ship  _ does _ start moving away from the harbour, which is all they needed before Seungmin takes over steering. 

“Aye, captain! We have a new member,” Jisung grins as means of greeting, and Chan does a double-take.

“A what?” Urgency is brewing in his chest, they need to leave  _ now _ . “Was it really necessary-”  _ oh, shit. _ “The PRINCE? Jisung, I  _ told you- _ ” 

“We made a deal.” 

Changbin, who was watching this exchange as well as eyeing the prince with an air of intrigue, was torn between the urge to laugh and tear his hair out in frustration. They need to leave,  _ now _ ! This could literally be life or death and Jisung has brought no less than the  _ Crown Prince of Aebarrow  _ onboard- and now Jisung and their Captain are arguing. 

“He has the maps, but only agreed to let us have them if he could come with us.” Chan eyes Jisung warily as the younger turns away from the prince’s view and mouths one single word. 

_ Stray _ . 

Chan groans internally. A stray, just like the rest of them. Jisung had probably had no choice in his mind than to give the Prince a place with them too. 

“Why did you agree?” Changbin butts in, sounding furious. “He could sell us out to the Royals and have us caught in a heartbeat.” 

“He said some shit… I don’t think he’ll betray us,” Jisung’s voice drops in volume, and he looks almost defeated; a rarity for the usually upbeat, confident pirate that they all know and love. “And besides…” his voice grows in confidence again, “He knows fully well that I won’t hesitate to kill him if he does step out of line.”

“Shit, guards!” Jeongin screeches, having no patience to deal with whatever drama is going on unless it’s safely at sea and surrounded by  _ only _ sea; no guards in sight. “We have to go,  _ now _ .” 

Chan, feeling conflicted almost to the point of physically feeling torn in half, runs his hands angrily through his hair and makes the split-second decision along with letting out an angry yell, staring straight at the prince. 

“One step out of line and you go straight overboard, got it?” 

Barely waiting for the Prince’s reaction, he turns to the rest of the crew to give the order they had all been waiting for. 

“All hands on deck!”

The one thing that he had failed to notice was perhaps the most obvious addition to their ship: one more young boy, being held tightly by Seungmin (who is steering the ship with surprising ease seeing as he had his other arm occupied with holding said boy in a lethal headlock), wearing _very_ strange clothes indeed and… he has _blue_ _hair_? 

How is that possible?

-But either way, this singular boy has gone completely unnoticed by the rest of the crew until Seungmin grunts loudly- only once the ship was safely at full speed and surrounded by miles of water, and releases the boy none-too-roughly from his headlock, announcing their new presence to the crew.

“Captain, we appear to have another addition right here.”

For the first time, all that can be heard on-deck is the deafening silence that could only be created by confusion, completely astounding five brains, before one voice- Jeongin’s- breaks it.

“How in the  _ world  _ does he have blue hair?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi hello!!  
> the gang's all here... minus one. I wonder when they'll make an appearance... ;)  
> but yes! now that we've had our introductions to everybody, the plot can really start to progress and more forward. I hope this made you giggle as much as it did when I was writing it!  
> as always, stay hydrated, take good care of yourselves and make sure youre resting well! you are all amazing and appreciated and loved!  
> kudos and comments are appreciated as well as good motivation <3


	4. chapter four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Wait, so Jisung broke into your castle?”
> 
> “My sleeping quarters, specifically.” 
> 
> Felix’s eyes grow significantly more mischievous, and he wiggles his eyebrows at the Prince. 
> 
> “Why are you-”
> 
> “That’s interesting,” Felix emphasises, having way too much fun. Being from 2019, he’s read way too much fanfiction to not instantly romanticize the retold event. And perhaps that could be viewed as a fault of his; he doesn’t think so. In his time, this behaviour is normal. You really think he’s going to take anything seriously tonight? Nah- “So he broke into your room, and you told him to take him away with you. Do you think he’s cute?”
> 
> Minho glances back at the blond pirate, who is by now in a deep discussion with the crew. The younger man is attractive- unfairly so- but Minho wouldn’t admit it. Not then, maybe not ever. 
> 
> “No. Something about him doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t like it.”
> 
> “Enemies to lovers,” Felix says ominously, “I’ve read enough fanfiction to know where this is headed…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick catch-up for anyone who's forgotten: we're now caught up on both felix and minho's individual journeys onboard; felix just got here last chapter, and the crew's all here (bar hyunjin for now). 
> 
> enjoy!

**

“How on  _ earth  _ does he have blue hair?”

As if Jeongin’s words flipped a switch in the otherwise stunned crew, everybody starts talking at once- apart from Minho, who stands still, watching chaos reign supreme with a barely-concealed grin. This is already nothing like the fully orchestrated and controlled life he’d grown up in. 

“What’s he wearing?”

“Who is this?”

“How did you  _ find _ him?”

“Seungmin, you didn’t kidnap him, did you?”

“I still wanna know how he got his hair blue,” Jeongin spoke up, his voice cutting through the chaos from where he’s lounging on the floor with the bread he’d stolen. “It looks cool.” His words sound thick from being spoken around a mouthful of the stuff.

“One at a time.” As always, Chan takes control. “Seungmin. Who is this and why is he here?”

Seungmin shrugs, one hand still on the humongous wheel used to steer the ship. “Found him among the barrels. I think he smuggled himself in on one of them, because one was smashed when I got there.”

“Tight fit,” Jisung comments, wincing for emphasis before he smothers a laugh at the glare Changbin sends his way. He and Jeongin are  _ definitely _ finding this situation far too enjoyable for anyone’s good. 

“I have a name and a voice, and I can use them for myself.” Blue Hair speaks up, and everyone seems to do an immediate whole double-take at the depth of his voice.  _ Ha. _ Felix knows that the temporary shock gives him a second of power over them all, and basks in the momentary silence it gifts him with.

“Then talk,” Changbin breezes, shedding his eye patch- he doesn’t need it now that it’s night time, so both eyes are already adjusted to the dark- before sliding it into his pants pocket. “Come to steal from our ship?”

Felix scoffs, though he has no idea where he’s pulling this newfound resilience from. Just half an hour ago he’d been trembling and weak with fear… but in all fairness, adrenaline is one hell of a booster.

“Well first of all, I’m Felix, so stop calling me ‘he’. And no. But my actual explanation is probably too far-fetched for anyone to believe, so I can  _ pretend _ to be a thief if it suits all of you,” he sasses back, internally fist-bumping himself at his professional bluff. At this rate, none of these people would be able to tell just how fast his heart is racing within his chest. 

“Tell the truth and we’ll decide whether or not to throw you right overboard,” the pirate who had found Felix-  _ Seungmin, _ Felix had heard the captain call him minutes beforehand- sings sweetly. Felix’s heart drops, but he hopes it doesn’t show on his face.

Whatever. Tell the truth and good karma happens, right? Or something like that? Felix hopes this would be the case.

“Well if you want the  _ truth: _ I was walking down an alley because I dropped my ball and this dark figure approached me and gave me this tube and then I was sent hurtling into… wherever this is… and ended up in a barrel which I had to break out of-  _ painful _ , by the way- and now I’m here after your pilot here almost killed me.”

“HA,” Jisung barks out a loud laugh, the sound almost echoing against the otherwise calm and silent ocean, “that sounds like one of my stories.”

“It’s true!” Felix is indignant. “My phone doesn’t work here either, or else I’d have called the cops already by now.”

“Your what?”

“The what?” Chan and Changbin’s voices overlap harmoniously.

“My phone? And the  _ police _ ,” Felix enunciates, pulling his phone out of his back pocket to show them. The ship rocks slightly; Felix and the other hostage, who is yet to speak, rock with it. The rest of the crew stay statue-stable. “Two completely normal things…?”

“Oh, the police. Makes sense. How would you contact them on that rectangle thing?” Jeongin resembles a happy cat with how reclined he is at this point. 

“My  _ phone _ ? Do none of you know what a phone is?”

Blank stares. 

“I know what a _ telephone _ is, but it’s nothing like what you’re holding.” Even Seungmin lets curiosity get the better of him and he tries to swipe it from Felix’s hands. “What is this?”

“Do you guys live under a rock or something? These have been around for  _ years _ … wait.” Felix’s expression turns into one of panic. “Wait. What year do you guys think it is?” 

“1752? I think  _ you’re _ the one living under a rock,” Chan quips, but Felix’s legs give way beneath him and he collapses onto the deck, breathing suddenly laboured, brow breaking out in a cold sweat. 

“You’re kidding, right? Is this some elaborate prank?” There’s  _ no way _ that the shadowed figure sent him  _ back in time _ . 

“No?” Chan may be a pirate captain, but he’s certainly no monster, and he walks straight up to the deck where Felix and Seungmin reside to hold a container of water to the pale boy’s lips, encouraging him to drink. “What year did you  _ think _ it was?”

“Not  _ think _ it is. I’m from the year 2019…” 

“Even better. A time traveller,” Jeongin stuffs the last of his bread into his mouth and stands up. “Where’s your proof?”

“Isn’t the way he’s dressed proof?” Minho dares to speak up, and is glad that nobody shushes him. “And how is your hair blue?”

“I dyed it.”

“Dye? That’s only for fabric, you can’t dye hair bright blue,” Changbin’s face is full of perplexion. 

“Is my phone not proof enough?” Holding the device out in front of him with trembling fingers, Felix presses the home button and uses his thumbprint to unlock it, and Seungmin and Chan gasp loudly as Minho, Jisung, Changbin and Jeongin run up to peer over Felix’s shoulder. 

“What in the world is that?”

“It’s a phone? They’re handheld devices… look, you can take coloured photos and videos,” Felix is  _ desperate _ to prove to them that he was telling the truth, for he knew he’d go straight overboard if he didn’t. “You can play music… you can call people and send them messages that reach them instantly?”

“Prove it.”

“I can’t prove the calling and messaging, there’s no signal…” Felix is despairing. “But here. Look.” He opens up the camera app and flips the lens so it’s front-facing. “Look, here are all of us. I can take a photo,” he presses the camera button, “and there. A picture.” 

“What the  _ hell. _ ” Jisung’s voice is laced with excitement. “What else can it do?”

“I have music?”

“YES,” Jisung is practically falling over himself in excitement. “I want one of these.” 

Chan steps back and pulls Seungmin back with him, eyes narrowed. “I think he’s telling the truth,” he confides in the younger. “As crazy as this is… the technology is so  _ incredibly _ advanced...”

“Rich boy is our best guess at scoping him out, ask him if he’s ever seen anything like this in his palace,” Seungmin supplies, and Chan mentally facepalms. He should have thought of that already, damn. 

“Hey, Prince,” Chan beckons Minho over with two fingers. “Have you ever seen anything like this before?” Felix’s phone is now blasting some upbeat music through its speakers, and everybody onboard is  _ astounded _ , having only ever heard hand-played instruments as music before. How were these sounds even made? It’s truly fascinating. 

“Not in my entire life,” Minho’s eyes are wide as saucers. “Not ever.”

“Hmm.” Chan claps his hands together, once, and rubs them. “My gut says we should keep the blue-haired future boy,” he announces, and Felix’s head shoots up. 

“Keep me? I’m not property.”

“Keep you, not kill you, same rules apply,” Jeongin supplies unhelpfully. “Count yourself lucky you’re not being keelhauled-  _ oh _ , what does that button there do?”

“But what about the prince?” Seungmin is still standing straight as a rod, a clear sign that he’s remaining on guard for anything unexpected.

“He’s still under observation,” is all Chan says after a moment of silence, and the attention returns to Felix, who’s now showing the crew some strange videos he has saved on his phone from an ‘app’ called ‘TikTok’. The future is  _ strange _ , that’s for sure, but Felix is clearly taking the opportunity to show the crew everything about it with his remaining battery percentage.

“Everyone, just gather for a second. Prince Minho, stay with Felix.” 

Minho is more than happy to do just that, and sits down on the wooden deck next to Felix as the younger boy changes the song that’s playing from his phone with a small smile. The sea breeze is cool, but not enough to make goosebumps prominent on their arms, and honesty, Minho is revelling in the feeling of it.

“How do they make music sound like this?” Minho is absolutely  _ enthralled _ ; the beat is catchy and makes him want to get up and move around to it. The most  _ anyone _ from this time period has ever heard in terms of music is from hand-played instruments and singing- these…  _ beats? _ \- that are now coming from Felix’s phone are so utterly foreign that Minho has a hard time believing what he’s hearing is real. Felix giggles.

“Technology is  _ hella _ advanced, that’s all I can say.”

Minho blinks. “Hella?”

Felix’s eyes bug wide in glee, and he almost jumps straight to his feet. “OH! People in 1725 will have no  _ idea _ about modern slang…” the words are spoken to himself, but Minho hears them anyway. “This is gonna be  _ fun. _ ” He turns back to the prince, cutting the music off and turning his phone onto flight mode. There’s no signal anyway, he may as well try and conserve the rest of his low battery percentage. “So, you’re a Prince?”

Minho shivers lightly at the word. “Was. I ran away.” The words are simply spoken, but hold a lot of weight; weight that Felix picks up on immediately. 

“Elaborate.”

“Jisung over there- the blond one- broke into my castle looking for the maps that I’d already found, so I said I’d only give them to him if he let me join his crew.” Straight to the point. 

“Why join them?”

“I want adventure,” Minho isn’t sure why he’s spilling all of this to a stranger who is supposedly from centuries in the future, but he doesn’t question it. Too many questionable things are happening all at once; if he questions one thing, he’ll only question everything else, and that’s worth too much brain energy for tonight. “I was trapped in that castle. It was suffocating; so controlling… I needed freedom.”

“Mood,” Felix sighs, and Minho blinks in confusion again, but doesn't ask. “Wait, so Jisung broke into your castle?”

“My sleeping quarters, specifically.” 

Felix’s eyes grow significantly more mischievous, and he wiggles his eyebrows at the Prince. 

“Why are you-”

“That’s  _ interesting, _ ” Felix emphasises, having way too much fun. Being from 2019, he’s read  _ way _ too much fanfiction to not instantly romanticize the retold event. And perhaps that could be viewed as a fault of his; he doesn’t think so. In his time, this behaviour is  _ normal _ . You really think he’s going to take anything seriously tonight?  _ Nah-  _ “So he broke into your room, and you told him to take him away with you. Do you think he’s cute?”

Minho glances back at the blond pirate, who is by now in a deep discussion with the crew. The younger man  _ is _ attractive- unfairly so- but Minho wouldn’t admit it. Not then, maybe not ever. 

“No. Something about him doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t like it.”

“Enemies to lovers,” Felix says ominously, “I’ve read enough fanfiction to know where  _ this _ is headed…”

“What?”

Felix only laughs. “All will make sense in due course.” 

“Okay?” the crew disperses and Chan comes back to the two newbies, clapping to get their attention: something both of them had already picked up on as some sort of habit of authority. 

“Prince Minho. We won’t kill you… yet. Jisung was adamant that we let you join us, if even just for a few days, because of something you told him in your castle- he won’t say what it was,” Chan holds up a silencing hand as Minho opens his mouth to ask, “but if we find out you’ve only joined us to sell us out, trust me, we’ll kill you before the law can get its filthy hands on us first. Got it?” 

Minho nods his head. “Could I make one small request?”

Chan glares a little- why is Minho asking things of them when they’d just agreed on not killing him?- but waits for his words nonetheless. 

“Please stop calling me ‘prince’. I’ve left that life behind me now.” 

“Oh. Okay,” Chan is admittedly surprised; he thought Minho was going to ask something more Material of them, and nods before walking away. “Fair enough.” 

And so the rest of the night passed relatively peacefully- if you could call ‘peaceful’ a night full of chaos and yelling, and two very confused strangers watching in the midst of it all.

  
  
  


All in all, a successful night.

  
  
  


***

“Felix, what are you actually  _ wearing _ ?” Jisung is more than intrigued, it’s entirely safe to say, as he looks Felix up and down; the other boy is still wearing his crop top and skinny jeans. “So much skin on display… I’ve never seen such revealing clothes before in my life!”

Felix shifts uncomfortably, well aware of the strict views on modest clothing in this timeframe. Surely everyone has already labelled him as a harlot in their minds… he must seem utterly indecent. 

“It’s normal to wear these clothes in 2019…” he says weakly, one hand coming up to pull his top down to cover his stomach. “I promise this isn’t indecent in the future. I mean no disrespect.”

“I love it!” Jisung reassures him, hands held in the air. “I meant no offence by my question either. The fit suits you very well.”

Hums of approval resound throughout the deck, and Felix feels slightly more at ease, although he doesn’t stop trying to pull his shirt down. 

“It’s called a crop top,” he shares shyly, before gesturing to his jeans, “and these are a type of jeans… they’re called skinny jeans, because they’re, uh, skin tight.” 

“JEANS,” Jeongin yells, and sprints across the deck; from one end to another for absolutely no reason. “Jeans, jeans, jeans! My new favourite word.” 

“Do you want to keep wearing your… jeans?- or we could give you some of our time-typical clothes,” Chan offers kindly.

“Uh… if I could wear the clothes the rest of you are wearing, that would be great,” Felix smiles bashfully. “I feel really out of place wearing modern clothes, if I’m completely honest. I feel like I definitely shouldn’t be flashing my stomach-  _ god _ , I sound like my grandmother.” At the mention of her name, pain flashes through Felix, white-hot and overbearing. 

He won’t be seeing her, ever again, it seems.

“That’s the spirit! Grandmothers all around,” Jisung claps Felix on the back and leads him below deck with a kind smile, and Felix tries to smile back. “Here, I have a spare set of clothes you can have.”

  
  


***

  
  


“Alright, rich boy,” Jisung teases Minho when the prince shows his face the next morning, bright and early as usual, which had surprised Changbin at first: he had been sent in to wake Minho as the sun rose only to find the runaway prince already up and dressed on deck, watching the sun rise with a content smile on his face. “What are you good at? We can’t have you onboard being bone idle.”

Swallowing the cold sea air pleasantly, Minho thinks for a second or two before responding. “Well, I have trained in archery and sword combat for a good half of my life. I also know carpentry; I can fix any damage done to the ship and I can cook for the most part, too, if any of that is of use.”

“A variety of talents,” the blond drawls as he climbs the rigging to settle in the crow’s nest for the day, and Minho scowls. There’s...  _ something _ about the blond that makes him feel  _ strange _ , even though he had the lookout alone to thank for his royal escape. He could only guess that the kingdom was being torn brick from brick in search of him. 

“You’ll find that people with a variety of talents are plenty aboard this blessed ship,” Jisung had carried on, his voice having taken on a casual air; one Minho instantly recognised as one who was subtly trying to show off would use. He knows enough of  _ that _ tone from experience of other wealthy families visiting the family and trying to impress his parents with. Nevertheless, he takes the bait; leans back against the bulkhead and humours the younger. 

“Do elaborate.” 

Grinning, Jisung flashes a toothy smile as he puffs out his chest over the walls of the crow’s nest. “I am the lookout and also the sea artist: I’m an expert at reading charts, navigation and I’m also capable of determining longitude using lunar observations, not to mention I can read the ocean efficiently and determine shallow waters from the deep, and determine when storms are coming.”

“And yet Chan never made you first mate,” Seungmin yells across the ship from where he’s steering the ship at the stern; eyes bright and smile teasing. “Although, your ego would swell beyond belief if he ever did.” 

“Oy! My physical position right here is equal to my superiority- I’m quite literally above all of you,” Jisung mocks him, sticking his tongue out immaturely as Seungmin laughs loudly. “Seungmin is the boatswain and pilot of the ship, just so you know.”

“Ah,” Minho says unintelligently, having no idea what a boatswain did. He guesses he’ll find out by observing Seungmin when he isn’t steering the ship. “So who  _ is _ the first mate if not either of you two?” 

“Changbin, he’s quartermaster so that’s the equivalent,” Seungmin explains, seemingly taking pity on the clueless prince. “He distributes things, mainly. Everything that needs sharing, he distributes: responsibilities, food, punishment, you name it.” 

“Wouldn’t that be the captain’s job?” Minho’s head spun with all of this new information he’s having to take in at once, and Seungmin opens his mouth to explain when Felix stumbles ondeck, drowning in a white shirt- that's collar was tied with matching thread- lent to him by one of the crew members and yawning loudly as his light blue hair almost appears to reflect the sun’s rays. 

“Guys, you all wake so  _ early _ ,” he complains. “I barely slept last night anyway because usually, you know, I’m not in a  _ pirate ship _ rocking about like a pendulum. Please don’t tell me you’re all morning people…”

Despite himself, Minho smiled at how tiny the blue-haired boy looks in comparison to his new clothes. A part of him wonders where he’d stored his strange futuristic clothes, but he doesn’t ask. 

“You’ll get used to it,” Changbin replies, walking out from directly behind the younger boy and slapping his shoulder none-too-gently. “Soon sleeping on a ship will become second nature to you. As will waking up before the ass-crack of dawn, so stop complaining.” Minho thought he’d stopped talking there but the muscular quartermaster’s voice drops in volume as he walks past Felix to step into the middle of the ship. “But if you can’t sleep, go to Chan.” 

“Yeah, you missed the sunrise, Felix,” Minho joins in the teasing, but is only half joking. “It’s a  _ particularly _ beautiful thing to wake up to; it really is a shame you missed it today. Perhaps tomorrow you could join me?”

“Yeah, it always was on my bucket list to watch the sunrise,” Felix ponders quietly. 

“Bucket list?”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot I was in the past for a second there. A bucket list is a list of things you wanna do in life before you die.” Felix explains, gesturing in needless circles with his hands. 

“A bucket list,” Jisung repeated, the sound travelling down to meet the crew below him. 

“So what about you, Felix?” Seungmin butts in, unphased by this new terminology. “What talents do you have that would make you useful aboard?” 

Felix noticeably bristles, having definitely  _ not _ forgotten his initial near-death experience caused by the younger pirate and still being clearly very wary of him.

“I’m… agile? I was one of my school’s parkour champions four years in a row- I even escaped the police that way once. I can shoot arrows in archery and shoot other things really well too… and I cook! I cook a lot,” he lists, counting down his options on his fingers before realising he’ll have to explain what parkour is. 

“Shooting?” Changbin rubs his chin, deep in thought. “Arrows or guns?”

“Guns, mostly- but arrows too! I used to shoot using rifles with my grandad sometimes,” Felix leaves out the part about him only having done it about five times in total, and it being no regular thing - instead launching into enthusiastic stories of the few times he  _ had _ done it; entertaining the crew for quite a while with retellings of the first time he held a gun and had almost shot the ceiling with his enthusiasm of waving the weapon around, and the first time he’d made a perfect shot, right in the centre of the square targets set up at the shooting range. 

“Show us, show us,” Jisung eggs the boy on, “I want to see your skills after such thrilling tales.” 

The rest of the present crew join in with Jisung’s encouragement, and with a small pistol provided by Changbin, they’re collectively delighted to see that Felix is indeed a  _ magnificent _ shot; prevailing in each challenge they set him with incredible accuracy, to everybody’s immense glee.

Felix basks in the validation. It’s a pleasing contrast to his near-death experience yesterday.

“Well, Felix, we do need a master gunner,” Chan had been watching the entire event with a growing smile, and pats Felix’s hair with a big-brotherly air. “I’m not offering you the position straight away, but we can train you up first, and then see how things go?”

Felix positively  _ beams _ , and makes little claps in the air with glee. “Thank you,” he breathes, knowing full well what an honour it must be to be considered for a position within the crew after just a number of  _ hours _ aboard when he had joined- literally- completely out of the blue. 

Or perhaps  _ into _ the blue, if you think about it.

“Congratulations, Felix!” Jisung yells from the crow’s nest. “Welcome- officially- to the crew.”

  
  


***

  
  


“Minho,” Chan calls from where he’s poking his head out of his captain’s office at the front of the ship, “come and join me for a minute.”

Minho bristles slightly at Chan’s tone, but obeys anyway, regardless of the fact that Chan is literally the crew’s captain. He has an idea of what this is going to be about already. 

The captain’s office is small, but the layout makes it seem spacious and airy. Light spills into the room through huge windows made sturdy with lead, and a desk is nailed to the floor but its contents are not: three maps, an open leather pouch with numerous amounts of gold and silver spilling out onto the wood, providing a sharp contrast to the worn surface. A red, patterned rug sits in the middle of the floor, and if Minho squints he can see that it’s held to the floor with nails around the edges-  _ smart _ , he thinks,  _ safe whilst keeping up an aesthetic. _ Two heavy chairs sit at either end of the desk- Minho guesses they’re too heavy to be moved very easily- and slung over the back of the one behind the desk is a leather satchel. It’s slightly messy, but a  _ good _ messy, Minho decides as he surveys the room. 

_ Pretty _ messy. It feels homely. Grand, in a way, but lived in. There’s no pressure to keep it scrubbed, shiny and pristine, yet it still feels fresh, cleansed by the sea air. 

Minho likes it. 

“Take a seat.” Gesturing to one seat at the opposite end of Chan’s desk, the ship’s captain sits down calmly at his end of the desk, and waits, hands clasped in front of him, statue-still. It’s almost eerie, and to Minho at least, the air suddenly feels cold and unwelcoming. 

“So… is there something I’ve done wrong?” 

Chan laughs, but there’s little humour behind it. 

“What’s your plan here,  _ really _ , Minho?”

Silence reigns supreme for a few seconds, as Minho’s brain blanks and his eyes falter.

“What do you mean?”

Without the constant sound of the wind blowing through the sails that being outside provides, Chan’s office is deathly silent, save for Minho’s heart rate, which is speeding up and roaring in his ears. He feels guilty; though he’s committed no act that would deem him so. 

“No way would a prince come aboard a pirate ship and claim to want to be one of us. Pirates are lawless, Minho. We keelhaul as punishment and are outlawed in every single country on-land. Now, why would a rich prince, who has everything he could ever want for,  _ possibly _ join a pirate crew for if not to sell us out to the authorities?”

Minho blinks rapidly, and he sighs in defeat. Looks like he won’t just have to live with the embarrassment of spilling his innermost feelings to a stranger who came in through his window, but also to Chan, as well, to make sure that Minho himself won’t also be keelhauled. 

“I…” 

Chan looks even more suspicious now, and shifts in his seat. That movement alone strikes irrational fear into Minho’s heart, and he curls into himself just a little. 

Sighing again, Minho starts to speak. He explains everything: his situation in the palace; having never experienced any love in his life, nor friendship, save for the caring staff in the kitchens, and wanting to live a free life where he isn’t captive-bound in the handcuffs of royalty. 

“Hmmm…” Chan sighs; leans back in his chair and cracks his knuckles before placing his hands behind his head, comfortable. “Well, Jisung definitely wasn’t kidding when he said you were a stray…”

More blinking from Minho occurs as he tilts his head in confusion. “Stray?”

“We’ve all been strays in our lives in one way or another… aboard our ship, amongst our crew, we form a family that none of us have had before.”

“Oh,” Minho breathes, suddenly feeling quite emotional at the notion. “That sounds amazing…”

“Yep,” Chan stands up, prompting Minho to do the same before leaning forward on the desk, arms braced on the wood, eyes dead set on Minho and boring into his skull with a sharp gaze. “But, just a warning. I love each and every single member of this crew like my own brother, and I would go to any- and I mean  _ any _ \- length to protect them. If I hear of one  _ hint _ that you’re about to do anything that would put us in danger, you’re going to wish you had just stayed in your castle and lived out your unhappier life there. Got it?”

Minho gulps- obviously, too, and chides himself for it- before forcing out a steady reply. “Yes, captain.” It frustrates him, really- he just poured out his entire heart and worries to Chan, and he’s being threatened again? He gets that he’s a prince, but damn… if he could be trusted, just once…

Chan smiles as he lets up, leaning away from Minho and making to exit the room. “Please. Call me Chan.” 

_ Mixed messages _ , Minho thinks as he watches their captain exit his office and step back out onto the sunny deck. 

_ Well… if I’m going to have to earn their trust, then that’s what I’ll do. I have nothing to hide, after all.  _

  
  


***

  
  


The tube that the dark figure had given Felix sits heavy in the ship, rolled up among Felix’s clothes from 2019 that he’d stashed under his hammock- given to him by Chan the night before; their captain wasn’t about to let him nor Minho sleep on the ground no matter the circumstances- and the papers were forgotten about for the most part, until Changbin mentions to the blue-haired boy what their purpose for sailing currently was. 

“Treasure? It’s cursed? Strange.” Felix glances at the floor, and gasps suddenly. “Wait- maybe that’s what the figure sent me here for. I’ll be right back.” to the crew’s collective confusion, he runs off, below-deck, before emerging minutes later holding a tube about the size of his hand. “The figure gave this to me before they sent me back in time. I didn’t even consider anything about it until now… it’s grown considerably.” 

The tube is plastic, and has a screwed-on lid which Felix pops off with ease, shaking the cylinder to dislodge a scroll.  _ Nice. _

“It’s got writing on it.”

“What does it say?” Jeongin butts his head in over Felix’s shoulder out of nowhere, peering over his shoulder. 

“It doesn’t  _ say _ anything, per se,” Felix holds the paper up a little higher for everybody else to see, “it’s half of a map, I think.” 

“Oh, that’s convenient,” Minho chirps, butting in. “I just so happen to have half a map, too.” 

“This is  _ fate _ ,” Felix resists the urge to yell the words as he grins. “I wanna see if they match.”

Minho pulls the papers, yellowed and crinkled from being kept in his pockets for so long, out of his pants pocket and shakes them a little to straighten them out before approaching Felix with the subtlest spring in his step, feeling glad to hopefully be of use to the crew. “Here.” 

“They  _ do _ match! This must be why the creepy figure sent me back here…” Felix ponders, eyes widening. “What if I get sent back into 2019 at some point?”

What if he gets sent back, indeed. There truly is no way of knowing for anybody; they’ll just have to find out as time progresses.

Now that the two sides of the map had finally been rematched, the map as a whole was a  _ lot _ bigger than before- maybe stretching the width of Felix’s arm. 

“Do we have a way of sticking the two pieces together?” he asked.

“I could make a paste out of bone powder and water,” Jeongin suggested. “I think I still have some of the powder left in the medical bay somewhere.”

“Good thinking, Jeongin,” Chan praised their medic, “we’ll have to stick it together before studying it, I think. It’ll be a lot easier to focus on once we’re not all trying to piece it together perfectly.”

“What if I just… let go right now?” Felix teases.

“This isn’t really something we can let go,” Seungmin chuckles, “unfortunately for any other rival crews who are also after the maps.” 

“I’ll be right back,” Jeongin says, and disappears below deck, presumably to mix the paste for their glue together. 

Felix sits down on the deck; places both sides of the map next to each other and studies them as he holds them down, hard, onto the wood, scared that they’ll be blown away by the wind. 

The map is certainly crowded: just this one alone conveying the layout of an entire island. Combined with the rest of the papers that Minho had taken from his castle, they had a total of two maps- one much smaller than the other and a lot less dangerous-looking- as well as three sheets of notes, as if somebody had been on the same route before them and had made notes of what to heed next time they went. 

Strange. 

“Nobody’s been on this quest before, right?” Felix inquires, not taking his eyes off the map even for a second.

“Nope, nobody. Why?” Jisung eyes the map too, with suspicion, as if he’s expecting it to leap away from them and into the sea at any given moment.

“The map and notes are already analysed and labelled as if somebody has already set out on it once before… it’s weird.”   
  


“Weird indeed…”

“The paper is so yellowed and crispy... I kinda wanna put it in my mouth,” Felix thinks aloud, and only registers the stunned silence of the surrounding crew a few seconds later. He snorts loudly. “Don’t worry about it.”

“What the hell,” Changbin whispers, but luckily Jeongin returns then with his glue-concoction and the topic is dropped. Felix carries on cackling to himself, having already made up his mind that he’s going to corrupt this ship and make everybody into gen-z humour enthusiasts within the next month,  _ maximum _ . 

“Anyway. It’s strange to me that the map and annotations have been laid out as if someone has already gone on this trip before us… Do you think they did? Perhaps they failed and wanted somebody else to go in their place?”

“Maybe it was someone who knew exactly how to dispose of the rock but couldn’t, for some reason…?” 

“We have no way of telling,” Chan says solemnly. “But at least they left us this, however they did it. I can only hope it will be helpful, and not inaccurate…” 

“Well, it’s all we have to go off for now,” Felix agrees, and looks up at Minho. “Did you say you had more maps like this?”

“Indeed I had- there are two more.”

Chan turns back to his office and wordlessly retrieves the maps- last night he had taken them to put them there for safekeeping, of course- and lays them on the deck beside the newly fixed map in front of Felix. 

“Hey, not to be a killjoy but wouldn’t it be a better idea to do this in Chan’s office? It’s windy as hell today,” Jeongin casually supplies as Felix tries to hold each map down with his hands. He makes no move to help, instead choosing to stand one step away and giggle at the elder’s struggles.

Silence reigns supreme for all of two seconds, before the deck fills with groans of realisation. 

“We’re all dumb,” Felix stands up, gathering the papers into his arms. “Into the office we go.”

Seungmin and Jisung stay out on the deck; Jisung to keep lookout back in the crow’s nest and Seungmin to keep steering the ship and make sure they were staying on track, but everybody else piles into the captain’s office, the space feeling significantly smaller with five people in it instead of two. Still- Chan’s desk is more than big enough for the five of them to stand around it; chairs ignored in favour of having a higher vantage point of the parchments laid out on the desk. 

“Alright,” Chan sweeps the mess of coins, singular telescope and other parchments off the wooden surface to make more room for the task at hand, “Is there an order that these are supposed to go in?”

It certainly didn’t look like it. Each map seemed to be stand-alone, it's only connection to the rest being the fact that they were all centred around the same island; the same plan that the crew would have to follow. 

“Is this one where the island actually  _ is _ , and how to get to the island via the sea?” Felix questioned, using light fingers to trace the blue paths etched into the yellowing parchment. 

“I think it may well be,” Changbin moves over to Felix’s side to examine the papers from the same perspective. “Yeah- it is.”

“Well spotted, future boy,” Jeongin winks so badly that it looks like one harsh blink, and Felix barks out a laugh as Changbin pats their youngest on the head with a laughing “you tried, kid.”

“If I may ask… where in the world  _ are _ we, right now?” Minho speaks up politely, and Felix nods vigorously beside him- he in particular has no idea at  _ all _ of where they are, in comparison to Minho, who at least has a starting point of his kingdom to go off.

“Pacific Ocean, moving east.”

“Ah…” Australia is situated in the Southern Ocean, so they are currently… wait. Felix’s brow scrunches up in thought as he racks his brain for anything his highschool Geography classes had taught him all those years ago.  _ Ah- they must be in Asia, then? Or thereabouts… heading east, towards America?  _ It was a weak guess at most- Felix had no  _ idea _ what the world looked like in the 1700s. From what he knows, countries had different names and layouts from 2019, and so even if he were to name countries, he’d most likely just confuse the rest of the crew. 

By the time he emerges from his confusion, the rest of the crew have formulated most of the pla already.

“So we turn the ship straight back around?”

“Yes- we need to head south instead, towards the Indian Ocean,” Chan confirms. 

Ah. So that would mean that (where they hope) their destination is centred at will be… Africa, maybe? Felix studies the map intently, and faintly recognises a feature. Yeah- Africa is his best guess. 

“Alas, wait- there are two crosses here,” Minho points out. “Perhaps two destinations? But which shall we take first?”

“Does it say anything on the notes parchment?” Felix asks, and Changbin picks up the material, studying each part closely.

“It says here that the cross marked in  _ green _ ink is the first point, and the  _ purple _ cross is where we get  _ rid _ of the treasure.”

“Nice colour scheme,” Jeongin comments offhandedly, and Chan chuckles. 

“So first we go  _ here _ , and then sail west towards this small island here- the one in the middle,” Changbin points and traces the journey as he speaks, and Chan nods approvingly.

“Exactly. So, now we need to go and tell Seungmin so he can turn the ship around, and then tell Jisung so he can study the maps himself and let us know which islands we’ll be docking on.” 

“To Seungmin!” Jeongin chirps, and is the first out of the door skipping across the deck to the crew’s pilot to tell him of their new plan. 

“Do you think he realises that he forgot the maps?” 

“He’ll realise in a minute,” Chan snickers fondly, and sure enough, a loud whine resounds over the sea before Jeongin bounds back into the office.

“Forgot the maps,” he complains, and the office bursts into laughter.

Things were only going to get more hectic from here on out, but even with two new additions to their crew, Chan is confident that they’re going to get through it unscathed. 

For the most part, anyway. How bad could it possibly be? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey again! i hope you enjoyed! thank you for reading all this way so far, if you're still here it really means a lot!
> 
> most of you will have realised that hyunjin isn't present yet: not to worry! we meet them in the next chapter ;)) which is when the plot really kicks in and things start moving a lot faster (hint: there will be chaos!) so stay tuned if you want some of that!
> 
> kudos and comments are recieved with the utmost love, so thank you to everybody who's left love so far. It lets me know that people are enjoying the fic and that I'm not just posting it into a void of emptiness, so thank you to everyone who's left comments so far!   
> stay safe, take care, and much love <3


	5. chapter five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How in the world- CHAN!” Jeongin sounds primarily annoyed, if anything, as he points at something clinging to the mast of the ship. Oh- rather, someone. “A damn siren is clinging to the mast.”
> 
> “What the- oh my god,” Chan runs out to investigate and almost snorts with laughter as the naked siren throws him a flirty wave and mischievous grin. “You’re kidding me.” Naked- as in not wearing any clothes, but also still completely in their siren form. They’re using their tail, glorious as it is: red to orange with a golden shine that reflects the sun- to help them cling to the mast of the boat, wound tightly around the wood to aid the way that their arms wrap around it too. 
> 
> “Can I please have some clothes?” the siren dares ask, voice clear and petulant. “It’s cold having the wind directly on my skin. I’m completely uncovered, bless my own poor soul.”
> 
> “This is not real,” Minho blinks rapidly, as if trying to clear his vision. “How long have they been there for?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELCOME BACK FOR ANOTHER WEEK!
> 
> quick notes for this chapter: I have no idea about what deters sirens, so I made up a whole thing about iron burning them. I’ve no idea whether it does or not- i couldnt find much on google abt deterring sirens, only that sailors would plug their ears with wax to drown them out. I also improvised on the extent of their abilities and the effect they have on sailors. Basically, nothing about the sirens’ abilities here was based on anything I’ve read, so take that lightly! 
> 
> Quick vocab note also: lagrange is basically scraps of metal - nuts and screws etc - used to fire at enemies. 

**

The day progresses as usual, and the sun is at its highest point in the sky, beating down relentlessly on the crew as they work and smart under the heat. They’re getting closer to the island on which the treasure would be located every second, and the knowledge that they crew are still a few steps ahead of the Reds pacifies everyone on the ship. Soon enough, a clump of islands becomes visible: five individual islands, although they do seem to melt into each other from such a long distance away. 

“There it is!” Jisung yells from the crow’s nest. “That island- the one on the right. That’s the one that’s circled on the map.” 

Seungmin nods and slowly begins to steer the ship to the right; making steady progress across the waves towards the island that, at first, look like a clump of sand and greenery on the horizon, but soon becomes clearer; the trees and bushes more defined, and the native people living there steadily becoming more visible from the pinprick-dots they once were as they peacefully go about their day inland. 

“Dock her carefully,” Chan makes sure to call out as the waters get shallower; lighter, and soon the crew feel the dull drag of wood against thick, immersed sand. “There are no harbours or rock to tie her down to.”

“The tide should be coming in very soon,” Jisung informs the crew as the ship draws closer and closer inland. “That gives us a while to find the treasure, but be careful. We’ll be as good as stranded until the tide turns once we land, so try not to cause a commotion.” 

“No promises,” Jeongin quips, cracking his knuckles as his eyes gleam with mischief. 

Chan approaches Minho and beckons Felix over with a quick ‘come hither’ motion with his fingers. Once gathered, he checks the distance between them and land- they have about five minutes until they would be able to anchor down properly in preparation for the tide coming back in- and spoke. 

“Listen, I know you two have only been here for a few weeks now, but did you want to come with us for the hunt?”

Two sets of eyes widen in surprise; neither boy had expected to be trusted to leave the ship just yet, especially Minho. 

“I mean,  _ yeah _ ,” Felix breathes at the same time that Minho says, “ _ please _ .” 

“Ok, so remember that this first trip off-ship we’ll all be watching you both closely, and keep in mind that any signs of betrayal will simply end in death,” comes the captain’s airy reply. “We’re trusting you both with a lot more than just some treasure to be found here, and you both already know that in a pirate’s life betrayal of the crew is the same as treason in a kingdom. Simple.” 

Minho’s heart is thrumming in his chest with ice-cold adrenaline; the feeling of excitement. Not only is he being trusted to go with the crew on-land to join them on this quest, but there’s also the contrasting possibility of death.  _ This _ was the excitement he’d had in mind his whole life. 

“Got it, boss!” Felix smiles brightly. “Just tell us what to do and we’ll follow.”

“Good.” Chan smiles then, like the sun breaking through thunder clouds. “We leave as soon as we finish securing the ship.”

Felix and Minho have nothing to do but watch as the crew begin an organised routine of weaving in and out of one another to prepare the ship for docking; Felix thinks it looks a little like a dance, if he’s honest, with nobody bumping into one another or stumbling even once, movements sure and strong. It’s as if they’ve done this hundreds of times before- which they  _ have _ . Perhaps one day, the crew’s new members can also find their place within this organised chaos of movements and preparation.

Changbin takes his eyepatch off and stashes it in Chan’s office, and Chan parts with the long cutlass he wears at his waist and hides it away there, too. At Felix’s questioning gaze, Jeongin pipes up from where he’s standing next to an anchor, awaiting command next to the bulkhead.

“It’s because in our normal clothing, we look just like sailors. But with weapons, or even eye patches- though normal sailors wear those too- it becomes more obvious that we’re pirates. You know, if our ship and flag hadn’t already given that away.”

“Anchors down!” Changbin yells, and Chan, Seungmin and Jeongin all heave individual anchors over the bulkheads; Seungmin groaning loudly at the weight as he lets go of his. 

“Everyone off,” Chan orders, and the crew obey, save for Changbin- who stays on-deck with armfuls of rope to throw over the bulkhead at Seungmin, who catches them deftly once on land and runs to tie it down to one of the wooden posts sticking out of the sand nearby. 

“She should be fine until the tide comes back in,” Changbin announces as he practically  _ vaults _ over the bulkhead, muscles flexing and landing onto the wet sand with a loud ‘oof’. “As long as we can at least keep an eye on her when it does come back in we’ll be fine.”

“The sand is mostly dry here, so chances are that the tide is coming in  _ now _ ,” Jisung corrects him. “We haven’t got too long. The tide is fast, and waits for no man.”

“Then there’s no time to waste, let’s get going.”

Sparing no time to stop and make friendly conversation with the locals and natives of the island, the group speed-walks into the main town from the beach, with Jisung leading, map in hand. Minho notices that himself and Felix have been strategically placed within the middle of the group, with Seungmin, Jeongin and Chan flanking them from either side, as though they’re waiting for one of the two to break away and run. He supposes it made sense- if  _ he _ were in their position he’d probably do the same. 

All things considered, the island has a very abnormal layout, and as for the town, in all honesty- there was nothing physically straight about any of it. Houses and huts of slightly rounded shapes line the winded streets made of light cobbles dusted with sand that had blown in from the beach, and warm, salty air blows through the people’s hair and ruffles their clothes. None of the houses are located in the town centre; instead it’s made up solely of huts selling food and various items collected from the sea, like shells and fish or rocks, and the air feels positively alive with the sounds of people calling to bring attention to their sales and offering bargains to passersby. Felix, in particular, appreciates the coloured bunting that hangs from roof to roof, blowing merrily in the sea air and giving the town a colourful; even  _ energised _ feel. 

The people living here are vibrant too: everyone the crew can see are dressed in brightly coloured fabric draped artfully over their bodies and pinned to stay; their faces smeared in an organised mess of coloured powder that seems to have no set pattern to follow. Around their waists and wrists hang string with dozens of plain wooden beads attached to them, which clink and tap together with the slightest movement. It sounds musical; the way they move being illustrated with the innocent tinkle of small beads. Everybody’s hair is long, and worn loose and free in the wind.

Felix thinks everything looks rather majestic, really. Everything’s so wild and free. 

“Ok, so the map says the treasure is located in a temple,” Jisung reads aloud, “just off the town centre. Ok. So it’ll most likely be guarded...” 

“It’ll be fine,” Seungmin waives it off. “We’ve dealt with far worse than some small-town tour guides before.” 

Considering the large size of the town, it only takes a short time- ten minutes maximum- to actually reach the temple. 

“We’ll be back on the ship within the hour if it continues to be this easy,” Jisung comments offhandedly. “We have time to kill.”

“Oh yeah, maybe we can squeeze in some tourism once we’re done,” Felix joins in, cackling quietly as Jisung turns around to laugh at his words. 

“Keep moving forward first, pastimes later,” Changbin reminds them. “Priorities.”

The temple was in view by now: not the grandest building by any means, but as it only belongs to a small island of a population of only a couple of hundred people; money was better used for distribution among the people rather than spending it on buildings for them to worship in. The stone is old and worn by the sea air; but it stands tall and proud nonetheless, yellowing in colour and brown in places but rectangular in shape, and structured with tall strips of concrete that act as pillars- but are also rectangular to match the overall shape of the building. 

Its entrance isn’t guarded by anyone, which already acts as a good sign for their mission. 

“Ok, here’s the plan,” Chan’s voice drops to a hushed whisper as he addresses the group, who subtly huddle closer as they approach the temple. “Act like we aren’t a group, and take cues from everyone else. We don’t know where it is, only that it’s in the temple, so we have no plan to follow. Good luck!” The ‘good luck’ brings his pep talk to a close on a  _ very _ sarcastic note, and the group disperse immediately, as Changbin grabs Minho’s arm and heads straight for the temple whilst Seungmin, Felix, Jeongin and Chan all split up and head in different directions; some to nearby shops whilst Jeongin simply sits down in a doorway. 

“Okay, lay low,” Changbin muttes out of the side of his mouth to Minho. “Stay respectful and don’t say a word if you can help it. We look suspicious enough with the way we’re dressed.” 

They enter the temple via the arching, sea-air worn door and smile politely at the person standing and waiting for them a few steps inside. This person, who wears a friendly smile and native clothing of simple brown cloth and a small hat, waves them further inside and starts speaking in a tongue neither Minho- who is fluent in a handful of languages- nor Changbin understands at all. 

“We don’t understand, sorry.” Changbin spreads his hands in an apologetic gesture and looks at Minho, who schools his own expression to match. The guide nods and shuts their mouth, but doesn’t stop in their endeavour to guide the two around the temple- Minho guesses that they’re under instructions to guide people around and show them the interior as best they can under any circumstance. 

The interior is simple, like the exterior: but quite like the usual worship space one may expect; the walls are lined with artifacts and ancient books, along with wooden stands with papers and books that are set standing upon them, upon which are descriptions of the nearest artifact: their origin and how they tie in to their beliefs. Aside from this almost museum-esque setup of the walls, the centre of the temple is covered in miscellaneous colourful rugs; the back wall of the temple being void of artifacts but lined with rows of individually lit candles. 

“Ok, so which is the one we  _ need? _ ” Minho whispers. Changbin shrugs but subtly makes a ‘come on’ motion with his hand to the elder, out of view from the guide, who has their back turned to the two. 

Their time in the temple ticks past slower than treacle being poured from a cold mug; the seconds feel thick and heavy as they stare intensely at each artifact and book and try to make sense of the native language etched into the paper. Why couldn’t their mother tongue have been one Minho had learned during his life as a prince?

To their credit, the guide is as attentive as they come, given the language barrier. Switching to very broken English, Minho finds that he can understand some of the words they mumble about each part. 

So far there have been three ancient books, a scroll, a diadem decorated with jade jewels and an axe made of bamboo sticks tied together with grass and a blade sticking out of the top of it. Minho had taken to glaring at the text that decorated each piece of paper in the books provided,trying to make left or right of what was what.

“Gods provided this,” their guide was struggling to say about their current artifact- hidden by the black drawstring bag that it was kept in upon its wooden stand- but succeeding in their speech nonetheless. “Treasure with… ability. Powerful.” 

“A powerful piece of treasure given to the people by the gods,” Minho translates back to Changbin as Jeongin enters silently, pretending not to know or notice Minho and Changbin as he makes his way along the opposite wall without a guide. 

“Bad powers. Brings curse,” the guide carries on, and Minho freezes minutely.  _ This _ was different to what their guide ha’d said about every other artifact; which had been explained with simple “blessing”’s or “instructions on worship”’s. 

“It’s cursed,” Minho furiously whispers, struggling to contain himself. “It makes bad things happen?” he directs the question at the guide, who nods enthusiastically, trying their best to elaborate. 

“Curse of the Waters,” they piece together, slowly and carefully. “New Men… Lots of damage.”

“Harmful to other people…” Minho is certain that this is the ‘treasure’ that the Reds are after. However, they have one more artifact to inspect. He would wait until the end to determine whether this particular artifact was what they’re after, however doubtful it is that there would be another cursed artifact. 

To his delight, there’s only another scroll after the rock, and then they’re done with the tour, the guide leaving them with a polite bow and gesture to the rest of the temple; a clear invitation to stay and worship if they want to. Minho and Changbin bow back courteously, before turning as if to walk slowly out of the temple. 

“You leave and wait by the door. I’m gonna go tell Jeongin,” Changbin hisses, using one hand to subtly push at Minho. “Beckon one other crew member over.” 

Wordlessly, heart thudding in his chest, Minho heads back over to the entrance of the temple as Changbin split apart from him, and looks about the street for the first familiar face he can find. Seungmin’s features come into view, and he tips his head at the younger; enough acknowledgement for the younger to make his way over slowly. 

The two stand apart enough to look like strangers separately waiting for people, but close enough to be within earshot of each other.

“There’s a cursed piece of treasure kept in a black bag, second stand from the back wall,” Minho relays the information whilst pretending to scratch his nose, to obscure his mouth movements with his hand from any potential watchers. Always better safe than sorry. 

“Took you long enough,” Seungmin mocks. “Are the others already on it?”

“They should be.” 

Silence reigns for a moment, before Seungmin speaks up. “You know, you’re already seeming like a natural at this.”

Minho allows himself to smile for a minute. “Really? Tha-”

“RUN,” Jeongin grabs Minho and Seungmin by their arms as he sprints out of the temple, bag in hand, flanked by Changbin and Chan. “No time for talking, gotta get going!”

As if Jeongin’s words had flipped a switch within the village, chaos immediately breaks out from within the temple; filled with yells of anger and threats, and an ear-splitting noise suddenly comes from within, akin to a thousand metal plates being dropped onto a stone floor; clanging and echoing and  _ ringing _ . About twenty people- way more than Minho had thought were in the temple in the first place- sprint out after them, hot on their heels, waving hastily lit flaming torches and sticks at their backs in their pursuit of the pirates. 

“Luckily for us, Felix, Jisung and Chan went back to the ship once I entered the temple. Figured if anything was here, we’d need people readying the ship for immediate leave,” Jeongin explains casually, as if he  _ wasn’t _ sprinting alongside the rest of the crew, who are already drawing breathless and are definitely focussing too much on getting to safety than speaking so much. 

“How… how- is he-- doing that,” Minho pants, lungs already beginning to burn as the streets turned to face downhill; a temporary blessing on his legs. Being new to the crew, this is the first time he’s witnessed Jeongin’s uncanny ability to simply  _ not tire out _ whilst running. 

“I have  _ amazing _ stamina,” Jeongin’s tone is the same, sickly sweet tone Minho recognised as the voice his mother would use when fellow royalty would visit their palace- a saccharine, chatty sound- and were he not quite literally running for his life, he would definitely have laughed. 

Though they had walked leisurely up to the temple, their sprint back to the beach feels infinitely longer; the path stretching on for what seemed like  _ miles _ full of angry screaming and a growing crowd behind them, intent on at least getting their cursed treasure back; at most, probably killing them for their actions. Whatever they’re yelling behind them all, Minho knows for sure he isn’t at all keen to find out about. 

“Shit-” Seungmin’s prosthetic gives way beneath him temporarily and he almost crumples to the ground, but Jeongin catches him at the last second- thank god for inhumanly fast reflexes- heaving Seungmin back up and practically dragging him alongside him as they sprint. 

“No time for metal legs,” Jeongin curses. 

“That -- doesn’t even make- sense-”

“SHIP!” Minho yells, the word physically hurting his lungs as he had to stop breathing for a second to push it out audibly. “Almost there-”

“GO!” Jisung’s voice suddenly resounds out of nowhere, quiet in the midst of the sound of four pairs of feet pounding against cobbles and sand but audible nonetheless as he watches them from above-  _ typical _ , their lookout is up a fucking  _ tree- _ as he pulls coconuts from the branches with surprising ease, pelting their pursuers with them. 

“Get to the ship!” he yells, and honestly, the sight of the blond sat up a coconut tree, which looks impossible to _climb_ , let alone _sit_ _in_ , throwing heavy coconuts at angry villagers holding flaming torches is really quite comical, if not even badass. The sight will be forever ingrained into Minho’s memory.

Much to Jisung’s luck, there were only around four coconuts in the tree, so he has very limited weapons to maim with before the villagers could get to his tree- and it’s near impossible to stop every single villager. Unless....

Only having one coconut left, Jisung seizes the opportunity and throws it as hard as he physically can at one particular villager, who holds one flaming torch in each hand. The world seems to slow to a stop as the coconut falls, losing momentum and for a second, Jisung thinks he’s lost his last shot. 

“HA!” Jisung crows, overflowing with victory and pride as the coconut falls upon one of the flaming torches, catching fire on its way to the ground and crossing the path of many villagers at once, effectively throwing everybody off their path at the shock of a literal flaming ball flying out of nowhere and  _ only just _ missing their legs. 

Jisung takes their collective shock and distraction as his chance to escape- when they see him it will be game over- and scales down the tree, reaching the ground within seconds and propelling himself along the sand towards the ship, which has already been untied and is being steered out into deeper waters by the crew. 

He almost feels like he’s in a dream- the sand slowing his speed down effectively- but fortunately for the young pirate, this is full reality and he makes it to shore, wasting no time in getting soaked as he runs out into the salty water before pushing himself off and swimming away. He knows they’ve lost the villagers by now; one glance over his shoulder tells him that they’ve stopped tailing them at shore, forming a solemn, defeated line as they watch the ship leave in eerie silence. Jisung snickers and keeps swimming towards the ship, confident that he‘ll rejoin once the crew have gathered themselves. 

Sure enough, within minutes, a thick rope is thrown over the bulkhead, and Jisung grabs onto it, using it to pull himself up the walls of the ship before he uses his arms to grab onto the edges and heave himself over, soaking wet and dumping bucketfuls of water onto the deck to announce his entrance. 

“Made it,” he pants, rolling over to his back as he catches his breath and feels the sun beating down on his saturated clothes and body. He knew they’d all be dry in no time. 

“The treasure!” he yells, not bothering to get up just yet; quite enjoying the feeling of the hot sun warming and drying him like a fire. “Let me see it.”

“We have to be careful, we have no idea just how cursed this treasure is,” Chan warns, but is booed by the rest of the crew.

“Ah, it can’t be that bad if all they kept it in was this measly bag. Tip it out!” Jeongin crows, cheering as Changbin pulls open the drawstring top. The crew presses closer together in anticipation as he shakes the bag a little, tossing it upside down to let the treasure fall out onto the deck. 

It bounces once with a dull  _ thud _ , and everybody stares expectantly as confusion takes over the entire crew. They had been expecting…  _ grandeur _ , perhaps; something valuable and precious, but this… 

It’s just a chunk of basalt rock. Black, textured and full of sand.

Silence.

“It’s a rock,” Jeongin states flatly. “A  _ sandy _ rock. That’s no treasure.”

“How do you use a  _ rock _ only when you need to?” Changbin was cynical. “Just, throw it or something similar.”

“No, look, there’s a line running through it,” Felix points out, gesturing but not touching. “Does it maybe open, or something?”

“Open it, open it, open it,” Jeongin urges, hands on both of Felix’s shoulders and shaking them, childishly in his curiosity. 

Felix takes hold of the rock, finding it weightier than he had initially anticipated, and ice-cold to the touch. He twists and cracks the rock open, and almost immediately the air is filled with ear-splitting screeches; the sea around the ship instantaneously frothing; becoming disturbed as thousands of  _ sirens _ rapidly break the surface of the once-calm ocean waters, their songs immediately becoming deafening yet heady to the crew onboard.

“Sirens!” Jeongin yells. “Everybody cover your ears-” he’s cut off by a renewed chorus that’s completely irresistible to all of the crew but Seungmin, although the rest of the boys try to fight against the sounds threatening to seize control of their minds.

Nails scratch at the wood of the boat loudy, the sound going straight through Felix and making him want to retch, but effectively snapping him - and  _ only _ him - out of his siren-induced stupor. The sea was  _ full _ of them out of  _ nowhere _ ; the way the water splashed and thrashed about reminding him of when he’d seen piranhas descend on some fish food at an aquarium back in 2019; furiously ravenous. Sober from the siren’s clutches after being jolted out of his trance, he joins Seungmin in grabbing handfuls of lagrange from a barrel on-deck and throwing them at the long-tailed sirens attempting to climb aboard, effectively injuring and deterring each one that got hit. 

“Iron,” Seungmin yells amidst the noise, “It burns them.” 

“What kind of supernatural fuckery,” Felix whispers under his breath, but joins the pilot in throwing iron into the sea, watching each siren he hits become pained and disappear below water. He would feel bad, but he knows that his options were to either kill them or be killed  _ by _ them. Life or death. 

Whilst himself and Seungmin are using all of their strength and energy to frantically ward off the sirens trying to climb their way aboard with their freakishly long nails- quite literally fighting for the crew’s life- the rest of the crew are staring straight ahead with blank eyes, unmoving as they stare at the sirens, immersed in their song. Felix shakes his head in exasperation- now that his own trance has been broken he has no idea how he’d even been encaptured in the first place. The noise is unbearable- the air feels physically thick with the piercing screams of bloody murder that seem to hold each member of the crew at arm’s length from Felix and Seungmin, even as the two stand skin close to their friends as they fend off the sirens from afar. 

“SHIT, Minho!” Felix yells as a siren manages to claw their way aboard, teeth inhumanly long and sharp as knives as they advance towards the prince, who, still being under the spell of the sirens’ calls, only turns around and stares, unmoving and pliable. 

Gathering a bulging handful of lagrange, Felix throws it with all of his might at the siren, who recoils in pain, their screeches changing in their notes as they spit onto the deck, flailing before falling back overboard- but Felix doesn’t miss the sight of ghastly blistering skin from the split second of contact with the iron lagrange. He winces in second-hand pain, but what else was he supposed to do?- but not even the utterly obscene scream of which that particular siren had let out has broken even _one_ _more_ crew member’s reverie, and after a few minutes of enduring the sound that makes their heads go fuzzy with the sheer grating volume, Felix and Seungmin have honestly had enough.

“Oh, for gods’ sake, this is so stupid.” Seungmin takes a large iron nail in his hand and scrapes it against a long scrap of steel, the screeching scratching noise enough to make Minho and Changbin double over and gag harshly, Minho falling to his knees with the force of it- but they’re free from the sirens’ spell.

Now only Jisung, Jeongin and Chan were affected, and Changbin sets work running to all three pirates with the same iron equipment Seungmin had just used and stands beside them, creating the same disgustingly screeching noises of metal against metal until the sound grated on their eardrums enough to break through their trances. 

By this time, four more sirens have managed to claw their way onboard; their long, golden tails morphing into human legs to aid their journeys away from the water and giving them more defined ability to attack the crew. Felix screams in shock as a pair of ice-cold, slimy hands grab him from behind, dragging him to the edge of the deck and seconds away from climbing over the bulkhead with the blue-haired boy, whose eyes are wide and mouth mute with fear as steel-strong nails pierce his skin and send white-hot pain shooting down his body. 

“SOMEBODY CLOSE THAT DAMN ROCK,” Chan can be heard shrieking as he fights off another siren, unable to protect Felix. Changbin springs into action in front of Minho, who had been distracted by Chan’s order and had stupidly looked away from his own advancing siren who was already too close for comfort, and draws his sword, giving Minho leeway to run in the opposite direction, seeing Felix’s situation and immediately jumping into survival mode.

Sprinting away from the main action, Minho grabs the length of rope that Jisung had used to climb back aboard- it was still attached to the ship via the rigging- and once close enough to the siren holding Felix hostage, using all of his might to fling the length at the creature, managing to strike them at the side of their neck,  _ hard _ ; hard enough to wind them as their hold on Felix lessens, just slightly. Using this weakness to his advantage, Minho darts forward and grabs Felix by the hand, yanking him none-too-gently out of the siren’s hold before landing a brave punch to their chest, sending them tumbling backwards over the bulkhead and back into the sea with an almighty splash. He doesn’t dare look back over at them. 

“Oh my god,” came Jisung’s voice from behind Minho and Felix, high-pitched and winded as he pants heavily, holding the- now screwed closed- rock in one hand, gingerly, as if one unfamiliar touch will bring the sirens back. “So. That’s the curse, I’m guessing?”

“I’m not keen on touching that damn rock again and finding out,” Changbin grumbles, bent double as he catches his breath, hands on his knees heavily. 

Felix’s eyes are narrowed, ignoring the literal blood trickling down his shoulders and down his chest beneath his shirt where the siren had gripped him as he focuses suspiciously on Seungmin, as the sailor in question catches his breath, sinking back against the bulkhead comfortably. 

“Seungmin.” His voice is sudden and jarring, the authority in it surprising everybody on the ship; far too used to Felix being full of sunshine in the past few weeks and never having heard this side to him before.

“Why weren’t you affected by the sirens?” he demands, approaching him swiftly and cornering him against the wood. Something about this whole situation isn’t sitting right with him at all, even though he supposes it was actually all thanks to Seungmin that anybody is alive at  _ all _ right now. 

The pirate in question rolls his eyes, unbothered and even a little amused by the blue-haired boy’s sudden temper. Behind the boatswain in question, Minho shakes his head dazedly, trying to clear his head after suffering a blow to the back of it via one of the sirens. 

“Sirens prey on sexual attraction. I’ve never experienced that before in my life,” is the simple answer, and Felix blushes heavily. The answer was so obvious, why had he even questioned a thing?

“Oh,” he says eloquently, and grins. “Apologies. I didn’t know you’re ace!”

“Ace?” confusion is visible on the younger’s features; his breath now caught again and his body fully reclined against the wood behind him. 

“Asexual. It’s… a label? I guess?- that we use in the future for people who don’t experience sexual attraction,” Felix explains. “It’s kind of an umbrella term for a whole spectrum, but I don’t want to confuse you with all of it now. There’s not enough time to explain everything.” 

“Asexual…” Seungmin repeats, as if testing the word on his tongue. “Nice.” 

“Are there other words like that you use in 2019?” Jisung leans against Felix, an arm winding its way around his neck in a friendly manner. “I want to be informed of all the future language we don’t know about.”

Felix giggles. “There’s a whole  _ load _ of words related to that topic,” he expands. “I’ll tell you about the community we have for the people who identify with the labels when we have some more free time.” 

“Priorities straight as usual, Felix,” Chan praises, and Felix glows a little from the praise. “For now… let’s at least get away from these siren-infested waters in case they come back.” 

“Felix, you’re literally covered in your own blood,” Changbin points out, exasperated. “Go and get patched up already.”

Blinking blankly, Felix looks down at his shirt to see that,  _ oh yes indeed, _ blood is indeed soaking through his shirt by now and is honestly at the point of looking quite alarming- though he knows that it wasn’t nearly as bad as it looked; blood just knows how to soak through things fast. 

Jeongin sighs and pulls Felix over to the other side of the ship by his upper arm so they can walk below deck to the medical bay. “Come on, I’ll patch you up.” 

********** 

It was about an hour later, the rock had been wrapped back up into its little black bag and was sitting in the middle of the deck. The comfortable quiet atmosphere that had settled upon the ship and amongst the crew like a blanket of snow on a winter’s morning was pierced by a mildly confused scream. 

“How in the world- CHAN!” Jeongin sounds primarily annoyed, if anything, as he points at something clinging to the mast of the ship. Oh- rather, some _ one _ . “A damn  _ siren _ is clinging to the mast.”

“What the- oh my god,” Chan runs out to investigate and almost snorts with laughter as the naked siren throws him a flirty wave and mischievous grin. “You’re kidding me.” Naked- as in not wearing any clothes, but also still completely in their siren form. They’re using their tail, glorious as it is: red to orange with a golden shine that reflects the sun- to help them cling to the mast of the boat, wound tightly around the wood to aid the way that their arms wrap around it too. 

“Can I please have some clothes?” the siren dares ask, voice clear and petulant. “It’s cold having the wind directly on my skin. I’m completely uncovered, bless my own poor soul.”

“This is not real,” Minho blinks rapidly, as if trying to clear his vision. “How long have they been there for?”

“I’d wager since the rest of his clan showed up,” Jisung appears from nowhere, and Minho scowls. Even after weeks spent on the same ship together, something about the younger pirate makes the prince’s stomach turn a little. He still can’t place it, and that infuriated him even more. 

“Return to the rest of your lot,” Chan orders the siren, who stares blankly at the captain and makes no move to leave whatsoever. “We don’t need more hindrance in the form of a siren trying to seduce and drown us all.”

“I’ve been silent for the whole time I’ve been on your ship! What makes you think I have evil intent,” the siren wails dramatically, their long blonde hair blowing over their shoulder and into their face uncomfortably. They blow it out of their eyes, hard, before pouting. 

“You’re a siren,” Jeongin deadpans. “We have iron. Leave.”

Fear flickers across the siren’s face before they nod in resignation. “I’ll get off the mast, but I’ve long since abandoned my clan by now,” they lift a hand to inspect their nails, casual. “I’ll die all alone and friendless.”

“You made that choice. We can’t trust sirens,” Jisung joins in, and the siren glares. 

“I’m different.”

“We have no proof, nor do we want any. Leave.”

The siren hesitates, and for a second it looks like they’re about to finally leave, when they open their mouth again. 

“I know what that treasure of yours is. And I know how to dispose of it safely.”

Every member of the crew opens their mouths at once, all equally as frustrated as the last. 

“We don’t trust that-”

“You’re lying-”

“You have no idea of our intentions with the treasure-”

“Who says we can trust your word?”

“How did you even know what we plan to do with it in the first place?” Felix’s voice cuts through the throng of questions and accusations, and the siren chooses to answer him alone. 

“I’ve been clinging to your ship for what feels like a whole day by now. I heard everything.”

Silence. One, two seconds pass by whilst everybody stares at each other, a huge staring contest, before Chan shakes his head and speaks up again, taking responsibility as captain to regain control of the situation.

“Then we’ll hear you out. But we’ll  _ only _ hear you out, and you’ll stay right where you are. Remember, we’re equipped with more than enough iron to injure and even kill one hundred of your kind.”

The siren flinches, but nods. “The treasure in your ship’s possession is called the Stone of Damnation. It’s cursed by an ancient legend called Jurom, and its original purpose was to be used to summon us sirens when in times of extreme need, and we would seduce evil to be drowned… But one day, an ancient warlock, enraged with the creator of the Stone, cursed it in his fury with the involuntary ability to enrage the entire sea with sirens and deathly fate. Clearly, you didn’t know this, and your stupid selves opened the rock for yourselves and almost died.” they stop to roll their eyes mockingly. “I can tell you how to dispose of it.”

“You  _ mentioned, _ ” Changbin grits his teeth. “Get to the point.” 

The siren smirks. “Well, first you need a series of maps-”

“Got them,” Jisung crows. He isn’t truly sure if the maps Minho had found in his castle had been the  _ correct _ maps, but he wanted to get a step ahead of this siren for pride purposes.

Brown eyes glitter with interest as the siren hums. “Oh? Three maps, one of the Aqes island and another of annotations and warnings; the last just full of diagrams and drawings?”

Jisung’s inner victory-meter skyrockets. “The very same.”

“Well,” the siren purrs and smiles, “you’re already miles more ahead than I anticipated. You need those. Once you reach the island on the map, the ‘x’ that should be marked there does not entail treasure, but the point at which the rock needs to be buried. The island there is completely unlivable within, for it’s dominated by tens of active volcanoes. Once you’ve buried the rock, get out of there because the volcanoes will be close to, if not already, erupting, but that will layer ash and lava over the top of the buried rock, making it impossible to access after a few volcanoes have erupted.”

The long-winded explanation is met with another stunned silence. 

“Ok, thanks siren,” Jisung cuts through the heavy silence, waving at them cheerily. “We have the information now. Be on your way.”

“Oh, but you need me,” the siren’s eyes glitter with a dangerous glee. “Once activated, the rock cannot be touched by human hands. Your crew just activated it by twisting it open. I, however, can guard it until it’s buried.” 

“Bullshit.” Changbin is already making his way across the deck to the rock, arm outstretched to grab the rock. Multiple yells follow him, and Seungmin grabs his hand and yanks him back. Hyunjin watches this all happen, amused yet intrigued.

“Is it really worth the risk? What if they’re telling the truth?” Seungmin hisses. “If the rest of the sirens come back, I am  _ not _ saving your impressionable asses again.” 

Chan looks visibly conflicted. “What if they’re lying, though?”

“Feel free to test my theory,” the siren drawls in a singsong tone. “Maybe if the sirens come back I’ll be able to rejoin my family after all.”

Everybody else was at a complete loss of which choice to make. Is the siren really telling the truth, or were they being led on by lies and evil intent?

“Oh, the name’s Hyunjin, by the way,” the siren tacks on needlessly.

“Oh my god…” Chan’s hair was becoming messier and more and more disheveled from running his hands through it- a nervous habit he has when he’s stressed, Minho couldn’t help but notice. “Do we trust them?”

“I say we use democracy,” Changbin announces, confident in the assumption that everybody else would vote against keeping Hyunjin on the ship with them. “We vote, and if it’s a draw then the pressure goes back to Chan. Hands up for letting the siren stay.”

“ _ Hyunjin, _ ” the siren in question corrects in a whine from the mast, golden tail flicking back and forth in indignance, catlike.

Minho, Felix, Seungmin and Jeongin raise their hands. Changbin and Jisung glare at those in favour, whilst Chan looks conflicted at whether he should join them. 

“I guess the majority has spoken,” their captain voices the obvious weakly. “I mean, it’s not as if they’re unaware of the risk they’re putting themselves in by joining us for this…”

“You are correct!” Hyunjin yells. “This is treason against my own kind that I’ve already committed here! And you could potentially feed me iron and kill me. Death-death situation everybody, I am out and proud!” 

Jisung and Changbin do  _ not _ look happy at this new development, the latter in particular looking quite bitter about the unanticipated result, but neither can do anything against their captain’s ultimate decision. 

“ _ Yes _ ,” Hyunjin crows, using their tail and impressive core strength to cling to the mast whilst they use their hands to do a little flappy victory dance. “ _ Excellent _ .” 

“Don’t come aboard until you earn our trust a little more,” Changbin settles for, throwing in a glare for good measure; clearly still unhappy about being outvoted. “We’ll see about our arrangement when the crew comes to judge your character a little.” 

Hyunjin is clearly more than fine with this, and grins; eyes crinkling into crescents as they loop their arms around the mast and relax, their body visibly deflating in triumphant tranquility. “Fine by me.” 

  
  
  
  
  


Soon the crew had assumed their usual positions aboard once more, attending to their assigned responsibilities without needing to say much to the siren. Jisung was nestled up in the crow’s nest as per usual, telescope occasionally raised to the horizon to check for potential enemy ships or distractions (and sometimes to admire a pretty bird flying up above) whilst Chan attended to his own duties in the captain’s quarters.

Felix was taking his potential position as master gunner very seriously and was now below the main deck; sitting cross-legged in the gun deck as he tended to his new job of sifting the gunpowder to keep it dry and prevent it from separating. Getting up and stretching his legs with a small groan of satisfaction as he walks about the deck, he then checks that every cannon is free of rust and in good operating condition (something Changbin had taught him a few days after his initial induction into the job). 

“You doing okay down here?” Jeongin’s voice floats across the darkened room, disembodied until Felix straightens up and sees him standing there, illuminated by the daylight flooding in from one of the cannon-holes. 

“I’m doing great, thanks for checking up!” Felix beams, patting the cannon he’d been checking. “All cannons remain rust-free and the gunpowder is being kept in great condition.” 

“Be careful of breathing that in too much,” Jeongin frets, and Felix chuckles, waving it off casually. Being from the future, he’s well aware of the consequences of breathing things in that you shouldn’t be, even more so than the people living here in 1752, but for now he knows it’d be relatively fine, so long as the room is well-ventilated, which, for a pirate ship, it is indeed.

“Got it, captain,” the older boy teases, lifting a hand up to his temple in a mock-salute. Jeongin giggles quietly and steps forward to bat Felix’s hands away from the saluting position, and just for a moment, Felix sees just how young Jeongin really is. He’s barely an adult; young and still so vulnerable, despite the mostly cocky and overconfident way he acts, yet seems so much older with his extensive medical knowledge and ability as well as resilience aboard their ship. A wave of protectiveness washes over Felix for the younger boy.

“Your chest,” Jeongin suddenly breaks the momentary silence that had settled between the two, breaking eye contact as he brings a hand to hover over Felix’s injury, careful not to touch the shirt that covers the puncture marks left by the vicious siren. “How is it feeling now?”

“It’s fine,” Felix has the urge to step forward just a little; make contact with the younger, but holds back, not really knowing where the urge came from. “You did a great job at tending to it. Thank you.” 

The young medic had, indeed, done a fantastic job at patching Felix up; Felix had relatively high pain tolerance anyway which did admittedly help as the younger applied cleaning salves and bandages after having to put in two stitches to the biggest cut; the wound being too deep to leave unstitched. It hadn’t been fun by any means, but Jeongin was trained and Felix a model patient for him, as Jeongin relayed stories of the crew’s more gruesome and embarrassing encounters in the medical bay before today to distract the blue-haired boy through the pain. 

“It was no problem, just doing my job…” Jeongin trails off, looking away at the woodwork of the inner walls of the deck for lack of confidence to look elsewhere and the silence returns, broken only by the sounds of the rest of the crew going about their day above deck. A sharp inhale breaks the silence once more, as if the younger had remembered something suddenly.

“I actually came down here to bring you something,” Jeongin changes the subject, lifting a small, black, leatherbound book in his right hand that Felix hadn’t noticed until now. It was tiny, about the size of Jeongin’s hand, and the pages waver slightly from exposure to the damp sea air for goodness knows how long. 

“As master gunner, I thought you’d want to be more knowledgeable about the guns and weapons we have onboard. I happened to have this book on it,” he announces, holding it out to Felix with both hands, “and… yes. If you want it, here it is.” 

Felix’s eyes widen and he practically snatches the book from Jeongin’s hands. “Are you kidding me? This is  _ so cool, _ thank you so much!” acting on pure habit, he pulls the younger into a grateful embrace, only realising what he’d done when the younger freezes up against him.

“Oh,” Felix pulls away sheepishly, “sorry. That’s probably not the norm in 1752, but it’s a habit I have- hugging people.” he laughs. “I still need to get used to how little skinship you guys seem to have around here.”

Little does Felix know, the entire crew are  _ far _ too touchy-feely.... Just not in front of, or with, himself or Minho yet, as they don’t know the two enough to feel physically vulnerable around them yet. Perhaps with time, their walls will crumble too, leaving the entire crew in the dust the actions left, embracing and vulnerable and comfortable.

“No,” Jeongin’s voice sounds far away, a little dazed. “It’s okay. I… I actually really liked it.” 

“Oh?” warmth blooms in Felix’s chest and spreads throughout his body, lifting his cheeks into a huge smile. “Duly noted. But, just out of interest- how much skinship  _ is _ appropriate in this timeframe?”

Silence hangs thick over the two for a solid moment as Jeongin’s eyes dart in a full circle around Felix’s head; following behind him, to the side of him, to the ground before him and back up, and Felix is about to ask the younger what he’s so fervently watching when Jeongin steps back. 

  
  
  


“At sea, anything is acceptable,” Jeongin spreads his hands wide as he begins to walk away, backwards, not breaking eye contact. “I’ll see you later.”

  
  
  


****

  
  


“Doesn’t steering the ship all the time just get boring?” Hyunjin purred, startling the life out of Seungmin, who honestly had been daydreaming this entire time; eyes unfocused as he stared into space and immersed himself in the company of his thoughts.

“How did you get to this side of the ship?” The siren had literally been clinging to the opposite end of the ship just a second ago, Seungmin could have  _ sworn _ it. 

“I latched onto the boat like a wet barnacle and suctioned my way over here. Did you not hear me squelching on my journey?” Hyunjin deadpans, and Seungmin blinks blankly. He truly wasn’t sure whether he was being fooled or not. 

Hyunjin laughs, loudly and lively at the younger’s gullibility. “I swam alongside the ship and hopped back on, so to say. I would have used my legs but I’m not allowed onboard, so tail it is.”

“Oh.” 

“You’re quiet,” Hyunjin observes needlessly, tail flicking from side to side behind him as they inspect the sailor from head to toe, and then back up again. “But very attractive.” 

“Your spells won’t work on me,” Seungmin bats off the seeming advances with a metaphorical backhand. “I’m immune.”

“Yeah, he’s  _ asexual, _ ” Jisung yells from the crow’s nest, blatantly listening in to their conversation and sounding audibly proud of his knowledge of the new word. 

Now it’s  _ Hyunjin’s _ turn to blink in confusion. “What?”

“Lack of sexual and/or romantic attraction, basically, it depends on the person.” Felix pokes his head up on the main deck as he walks back out of the gun deck. 

“ _ Oh,”  _ Realisation dawns like an entire solar system of suns on Hyunjin’s face and their whole body seems to turn to liquid as they relax in their position. “I didn’t know there was a word for that. Every siren is… ‘aseck’- what was the word again?”

“Sirens are asexual?” Felix repeats, gently correcting Hyunjin’s mistake. “Wow. They never taught us that in school.” 

“We only seduce sailors to drown them, we have no actual desire to fornicate with them,” Hyunjin puts it bluntly, and Seungmin has the audacity to snort. “It’s true!” 

“You learn something new every day,” Jisung blinks in disbelief. Minho, who had been silently watching the entire encounter from where he’s comfortably entangled in the lowest parts of the rigging- he has no desire whatsoever to climb them, ever- snickers quietly as he sharpens a blade- his designated job for the hour. Who knew life at sea was so educational? 

“I didn’t know humans could lack desire too,” Hyunjin was murmuring, deep in thought. They grinned suddenly, a mischievous look devouring their features. “So if I sing to you you’ll remain completely unaffected?”

“I mean, he’s never been affected by any other sirens before,” Jisung speaks for Seungmin. “So I personally doubt it.”

“Can I try?” 

“Will it make us freeze up like last time?” Minho whines. “I didn’t like that.” 

Hyunjin directs their grin to Minho this time, albeit with an air of surprise, as if they had just realised that the elder was also accompanying the rest of the sailors currently on deck. The siren seems to size the young man up with their eyes just like they had with Seungmin, and their lip curves upwards just slightly. 

Minho seemed to sense that the siren had no intention of  _ not _ singing, and groans in inner turmoil. “Can we at  _ least _ give him some clothes to put on? It’s awkward enough  _ talking _ to a naked being; let alone having them actively try and use their supernatural powers of song to seduce someone whilst they’re  _ still _ clothesless _. _ ”

Hyunjin’s eyes light up like the sky, and they toss their hair out of their face eagerly. “Oh, yes  _ please _ ! I’ve been asking for clothes for  _ ages. _ ” 

As if the rest of the crew then conveniently seem to remember Hyunjin’s nakedness, and they all avert their eyes immediately, feeling awkward even though Hyunjin still has their tail fully formed; their legs not being needed and so lending no reason to form. Logically, they aren’t indecent by any standards, but the fact that they have no clothes on being directly addressed brings awkwardness into the wind that blows over the ship. 

“But you still have a tail, you don’t  _ need  _ clothes just yet,” Felix reasons. “Technically you’re not  _ indecent _ .” 

“I’m  _ cold. _ ”

“They’re  _ fine, _ ” Minho cuts in. “If they’re cold, then our thin shirts won’t do much for their body temperature.”

“Fine. But when I’m allowed aboard can I have clothes?” Hyunjin compromises, eyes hopeful. “Maybe I’ll warm up if I can run about when I can use my legs.”

“Deal.”

The ship covers the next few metres of the sea in comfortable silence as each being breathes for a while, enjoying the sun after forming some sort of alliance with Hyunjin through the promise of eventual clothing, of all things. Jisung began to think that the siren in question had forgotten about singing when they suddenly spoke up again. 

“I can block people from being entranced by my singing,” Hyunjin confesses proudly. “So can I still sing for this pretty pilot here?”

“Seungmin,” the pirate in question corrects, but says nothing else.

“Can I sing for Seungmin if I promise it won’t affect the rest of you?”

“Selective enchantment. Very nice,” Felix vocalises his appreciation for Hyunjin’s talent. “In that case, I have no problem with it. This is interesting.”

Jisung, Minho and Seungmin murmur similar words of consent, allowing Hyunjin to begin, and so they do, opening their mouth and allowing an enchanting series of notes to form, seemingly almost palpable in their depth.

Hyunjin’s song isn’t what any of the four boys had initially expected, although none of them were too sure what to expect in the first place. His voice is soft and angelic, and his lips form no tangible words yet they resound in each boys’ bodies like its own secret language. Their song seems to become one with the wind; absorbing into the water and swirling up into the sky among the clouds; encompassing all of their senses as if it were tangible, and none of the boys on the ship feel as if they’ve ever even come  _ close _ to hearing something so beautiful in their entire lives combined. 

But desire-wise, and trance-wise- thankfully- they feel nothing. In fact, none of the sailors feel  _ any _ kind of trance encompassing them, nor like they’re under any spell like they had been under the full siren attack. Minho, Jisung and Felix move around freely, their minds free of the cloudy fuzz that had lulled them into a sedative state the first time around, and they stare at each other in shared wonder. 

Seungmin also remains unfazed, although Hyunjin is clearly pulling out all the stops to have  _ some sort of effect _ on him. 

“You have a beautiful voice,” Seungmin comments offhandedly, steering the ship a little to the right. Hyunjin’s voice cuts off mid-lilt and a lovely pink coats his cheeks for a moment. 

“Thanks…”

“That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard,” Felix gushes. “Wow.” 

Hyunjin pouts, their lips puckering prettily. “That doesn’t count. Humans who are able to be put under the spell of sirens automatically find our singing voices pretty.”

“But Seungmin isn’t bound to that?”

“No,” Hyunjin breathes, gazing at the sailor at the wheel with cloudy eyes as they prop their head on their hand. “I think that was the first actual sincere compliment I’ve ever received.”

Minho blinks. Hyunjin is acting as if they’re completely infatuated  _ already _ , and it’s been  _ ten minutes _ since they and Seungmin had begun talking in the first place.  _ They move fast. _

Felix seems to be in the same amused state as the Prince is, and they share an entertained snicker as Seungmin stares into the sea, unfazed. 

“I mean my compliments,” was all he said in return, and Hyunjin audibly squeals a little. Even Minho feels the secondhand embarrassment for that one. 

Just when they had thought life aboard their ship had gotten more hectic, a seemingly friendly siren had fallen into their lives too and added a whole new element of colour. 

*****

It was late that night, and Minho is laying on his back on the ship’s main deck, letting the wind ruffle his hair as his limbs spread-eagle on the hard wood beneath him, and the stars smile down upon him. The sky is clear tonight, and the young Prince wants to enjoy all of it.

“Are you not frozen?” Jisung’s voice rings out from above him, and Minho practically jumps out of his skin in shock, having thought that the loud lookout had gone inside and to sleep already- but of course, he’d forgotten that someone had to stay out and make sure the ship was staying on track, and wasn’t about to get attacked in the middle of the night. He’d guessed it was Chan’s shift tonight- but clearly, he was mistaken as he shifted his gaze to see the blond pirate swinging his entire torso dangerously far out of the crow’s nest. “I can come down there and warm you with my body.” Jisung winks badly to accentuate his offer.

Minho rolls his eyes. Why is Jisung always so  _ high up _ ? It’s a hard thought for Minho to even process; his fear of heights gives him vertigo if he even  _ thinks _ about having to climb that high and stay there for the majority of the day. 

“I’m good.”

“But you’re shivering,” Jisung points out, and yes, Minho is indeed shaking from the cold, but he isn’t complaining about it,  _ is _ he?

“And you’re all the way up there. I’m fine,” Minho reinstates, irritance stirring in his gut once more. 

“There are blankets inside the ship,” Jisung states, preparing to jump out of the crow’s nest and climb down the rigging to accommodate for Minho’s needs. Minho holds up a hand to stop him. 

“I’m not a prince anymore, I don’t need you waiting on me like one.”

Jisung laughs, the sound incredibly harsh in the deafeningly silent night. 

“Whatever gave you the impression that I ever respected any of the royal family?” the blond pirate responds, bitterly. “If you were anything like the usual royals, I would simply have just killed you on the spot that night when we needed the maps.” 

The irritated feeling in Minho’s chest stirs into something akin to anger, and he sits up, hands curling into fists. “You knew nothing about me then and you know nothing now.”

“I don’t know why you’re so defensive. I’ve done nothing bad to you since meeting you.”

Minho’s blood  _ boils _ . “You could literally kill me at a moment’s notice if you decided I was about to betray the crew, for a start, and you’re constantly hyper aware of my every movement; watching me all the time. I constantly feel your eyes on me-.” He could have gone on, but with an extreme amount of self-control he only ever uses when in the most exasperating situations as a Royal, he manages to close his mouth and keep things that way, cutting himself off mid-sentence.

Jisung opens his mouth to retort with something equally angry, Minho has no doubt, when Hyunjin’s smooth drawl cuts between the two of them like a hot knife through butter and the two startle, forgetting that they’d never been alone from the start.

“As entertaining as this drama is, I’m very sleepy right now and need my beauty sleep,” they practically purrs, not moving from where their head’s pillowed on their arms as they lay on the bow of the ship, still not allowed aboard. “It’s hard enough to sleep balancing on this flimsy thin part of the ship to begin with. Take your sexual tension elsewhere.”

The two arguing men splutter wordlessly, but Minho pushes himself up off the wood and makes his way back to the crew’s quarters, where he wordlessly flops into his designated hammock and mutters angrily to himself instead of trying to fall asleep. Sexual tension, indeed! Jisung stirs something up within Minho, yes, but it has nothing to do with sexual tension. Something about that overconfident lookout just doesn’t sit well with him, that’s all! 

Meanwhile, Jisung arranges the thick blanket he kept inside the crow’s nest for comfort along the floor, curling up on himself to sleep there for the night. It wasn’t the first time he’d done this; he loved to sleep under the stars more than anything, but tonight, the idea of going inside after that argument with Minho just feels wrong -- even though it’s his  _ job _ tonight to keep watch anyway. It’s just as well. He’d prefer to keep his distance from the angry Prince for now. 

As he drifts off to sleep, Hyunjin’s words echo in his ears. 

There was no way there’s sexual tension between him and Minho, right? Minho seems to hate the blond and to be honest, Jisung isn’t fully sure if the prince in question could be trusted, either. 

He has no idea of how to make head nor tail of the siren’s words, so he lets himself sleep on it, closing his eyes against the world and drifting off into dreamland as the ship rocks him gently.

Sleeping on these matters always helps to put things into perspective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaand enter hyunjin! the gang's all here !!
> 
> now we know more of the plot and the crew's goals, and the chaos has really started to pick up a little. i rlly hope everyone's enjoying it, thank you so much to everyone who is supporting this fic, even just by silently subscribing!
> 
> thank you for reading, see you next week <3


	6. chapter six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hmm… take precautions, just in case. You can’t be too careful,” Chan orders, and everybody obeys; Seungmin and Hyunjin remain where they are as well as Jisung, whilst Felix hurriedly returns the guns he was polishing to their rightful places. Within minutes, the other ship is within cannon-firing distance from their own, and surely enough, it’s then steered around so that it’s facing the Strays’ ship side-on. 
> 
> They’re definitely preparing to attack.
> 
> “Everybody to their stations!” Chan yells, and everyone physically flinches as a loud bang resounded   
> from the enemy ship; a cannon fired with intent of maiming their ship, and by god, their cannons are by no means small. 
> 
> “Sucker,” Jeongin snickers as the cannon misses, having been too heavy to carry the too-far distance between ships to have hit them. “TRY HARDER NEXT TIME!”
> 
> “Jeongin, shut up and do your job."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick warnings: violence, non-graphic descriptions of blood
> 
> happy reading! <3

**

“Felix, tell us more about these words from 2019 we don’t know about,” Jisung’s curiosity had certainly not been satisfied with the one word, ‘asexual’, that Felix had supplied them all with before. He itches to know more and expand his vocabulary, especially since the first word sounded so cool.

Felix’s head pops up from where he’s polishing and checking some of the ship’s gun supply - he’d brought them above deck to enjoy the sun whilst tending to his set responsibilities. Best of both worlds. “What, like what?”

“Are there more words like asexual?”

“Oh, yeah,” Felix grins, “loads. There’s a whole community of words connected to that in the future… We've formed a community of the people who identify with the labels and we have parades to celebrate our pride for it, actually.”

“That’s so  _ cool _ ,” Jisung climbs down from the crow’s nest and sits, propping his face in his hands as he grins at the blue-haired boy sitting across from him. “What kind of labels? What are the parades like?”

“The abbreviation for it is LGBT, or LGBTQ, or LGBTQIA+,” Felix laughs, “it varies but each letter stands for a different label, and each word has its own flag, too. For example, gay, lesbian, bisexual, non-binary, transgender, queer, and a  _ lot _ more. It’s all really accepting and just a safe place overall for those who don’t identify as the ‘norm’ that society has built up.” 

“Like strays!!” Jisung looks incredibly pleased with himself. “Like us.” 

“Yeah! It’s very colourful, and the umbrella flag for the community is a rainbow one. So the pride parades are really colourful and happy! I went to a couple before landing back here… I never wanted to leave.” 

“I wish I could see it,” Jisung pouts, looking wistful. Felix laughs, head tilted up to the sun, and Jisung looks at him questioningly. 

“We can make our own pride parade if you want, sometime, Jisung. We don’t have to be in 2019 or have everything that 2019 has to show our pride!”

“Can we?” Jisung’s whole face lights up, and it’s only when the rest of the crew start speaking that Felix realises they were all listening the whole time. 

“I wanna do it too!” Changbin looks like a child who’s been named top of his class, triumphant. “It sounds so cool.”

“What do the labels mean, the ones you just said? Which one am I?” Minho looks confused as he comes and sits too. 

“You don’t necessarily have to identify as any of the labels; some people choose to simply not label themselves at all,” Felix did his best to convey the right things to his crewmates; things seem so simple in his head but once he’s explaining it to seven more people who don’t have any idea of the ways of 2019, the words divulge into a maze in his head, getting lost and muddled and he doesn’t want to teach them anything inaccurate, even though he could just correct himself afterwards. “It’s a chill thing, most of the time. If you want to put a label on who you’re attracted to and what you identify as, then you can. If not, that’s also fine.”

“Things sound so free and fun in 2019,” Chan comments as he sharpens a dagger on his knee, looking every bit the picture of an angel apart from how the metal glimmers in the sunlight; a weapon if used correctly. “No discrimination against who you love.”

“We still have a very long way to go, but we’ll get there someday.” 

“Guys, I’m really enjoying hearing about the future, but there’s a ship incoming,” Hyunjin calls from the mast, breezily. “I’m just letting you know.” 

“Damn,” Jisung leaps to his feet, “that’s my job, sorry!” he climbs back up the rigging and into the crows nest before digging his telescope out and peering out at the ship that, for now, is still tiny on the waves to their left. “Yep, they’re definitely incoming. Let’s hope they won’t attack, but they  _ are _ pirates.”

“Hmm… take precautions, just in case. You can’t be too careful,” Chan orders, and everybody obeys; Seungmin and Hyunjin remain where they are as well as Jisung, whilst Felix hurriedly returns the guns he was polishing to their rightful places. Within minutes, the other ship is within cannon-firing distance from their own, and surely enough, it’s then steered around so that it’s facing the Strays’ ship side-on. 

They’re definitely preparing to attack.

“Everybody to their stations!” Chan yells, and everyone physically flinches as a loud bang resounded 

from the enemy ship; a cannon fired with intent of maiming their ship, and by god, their cannons are by no means small. 

“Sucker,” Jeongin snickers as the cannon misses, having been too heavy to carry the too-far distance between ships to have hit them. “TRY HARDER NEXT TIME!”

“Jeongin, shut up and do your job,” Seungmin grunts as he grabs the wheel of the ship, putting all of his might into turning the ship to sail towards their enemy-- sailing away will ultimately only take away their advantages and make the ship more vulnerable.

“Felix, man the cannons,” Chan commands, his entire body having switched from free-and-easy father figure to authoritative capitan figure within milliseconds. “It’s time to see whether being trained by Changbin has paid off. Jisung! Get down from the crow’s nest, you’re too easy to hit up there.” 

With all the agility and expertise of a monkey, Jisung swings himself down the rigging, agile and simple, and lands steadily on deck, where he immediately runs to the gangplank, ready to set it down and run across it onto their enemy’s ship if needed. 

_ Fearless, _ was the one word running through Minho’s mind as he stands, frozen, watching everything happen.  _ These pirates really do have no fear _ . 

And it’s true, too, as none of the crew (apart from Felix, but he’s just as new to all of this as Minho) has a trace of doubt nor terror in their features; completely focused on the task at hand and perhaps even a little…  _ excited _ ? 

“Finally, some action,” Changbin grins as he rolls up his sleeves, definitely enjoying this a little  _ too _ much already as he hurriedly piles weapons into his being at every possible available space. Two knives make their way into his belt as well as a handheld pistol before he takes one bulging handful of lagrange to throw before he climbs the rigging with his free limbs, leaning right out over the ship, fully ready to leap aboard the enemy ship at the nearest available opportunity. 

Minho knows the muscular pirate is intimidating, but the energy he’s emitting right now is downright  _ threatening. _ God help anyone who gets on the wrong side of Changbin, damn. 

“Damn it-” The ship rocks dangerously in the sea as another cannon is fired, this time  _ much _ closer to the ship- their enemy have clearly taken Jeongin’s yells to heart- and Minho springs into action, sprinting down below-deck to reach the deck that the cannon had impacted, ready to do all he could to stop the water from gushing into the ship and making them sink. He knows he’ll be no use shooting arrows at the moment, and he  _ has _ taken up the role of carpenter of the ship. He’ll have to use his skills to be of some help right now- he can only hope that another cannon won’t come firing through the same deck as he’s in and potentially kill him before he can patch up this particular hole. 

..

“INCOMING!” Jisung uses the ship’s rigging to swing himself back and forth to gain momentum before launching himself aboard the enemy ship, screaming bloody murder the whole time. Pulling a long knife about the length of his arm out of seemingly  _ nowhere _ , he gets to work disarming as many enemy pirates as possible: the Strays are clearly outnumbered at a good six-to-one ratio, so Jisung takes it upon himself to…  _ even the playing field  _ a little. 

“Changbin, behind you!” 

Whirling around from where he had managed to disarm and injure the pirate in front of him, Changbin is incredibly lucky that Jisung sees the pirate attacking him from behind or he may well have wound up dead, give or take a few seconds. 

“Oh no you don’t,” Changbin snarls, raising a knife up in defense against the pirate who now stands in front of him with a handheld pistol. 

Said enemy pirate snickers. “What’s a knife going to do against a gun?” he cocks the weapon, taking aim.

“Didn’t your mother ever teach you never to bring a gun to a knife fight?” Changbin twists the saying sweetly, and wastes no more time in throwing the knife,  _ hard _ , at his opposition, who gasps and bends double in pain as the blade enters his side, groaning loudly as he falls to the floor; pistol falling lifeless to the ground after he’d been too slow to fire it. Too bad he’d wasted time mocking Changbin rather than shooting him. 

Smirking, Changbin bent down to retrieve his knife out of the other pirate’s body, and picked up his pistol, too, for good measure. 

Nice. New weapons. 

Though the enemy ship has a crew around forty-strong, a surprisingly low number are actively fighting; instead prioritising doing damage to the Strays’ ship instead: they clearly weren't planning on stealing their ship, then, in this case. Using their cannons as well as temporarily abandoning ship to get closer to the Strays in smaller rowboats in between the ships, the image causes Changbin to snort at his mental comparison to himself and Jisung simply leaping aboard with reckless abandon.  _ Imagine not just jumping from ship to ship. Cowards. _

A good half of the crew are in these small rowboats, intent on plundering the Strays’ supplies and taking them as their own before sinking their ship and leaving them for dead; but fortunately for the smaller crew, they have luck on their side- or rather, Hyunjin on their side- as the siren makes their way through the sea beneath the boats, using their strong tail to send tremendous currents up towards the weak wooden floats and sending them toppling over and capsizing. The pirates within them are powerless against the full force of the water controlling their transport. 

One lucky pirate has the same idea as Jisung and Changbin had, however, and suddenly leaps over the gap between the boats,  _ just about _ making it and landing head-first aboard the Strays’ ship, unnoticed by the crew, who are all focused on fighting off the other enemies who’ve managed to wrangle their way aboard and are resolutely out for blood. 

_ Boom, _ Felix fires his first cannon and it successfully makes contact with the ship opposite their own; his aim isn’t completely perfect but he feels a rush of pride at his first battle-fire coming out successful, by any means. The entire ship rocks in the sea as the cannon fires through the wood, and Felix high-fives himself before loading up again, taking aim and shooting once more.

“YAH!” The enemy pirate yells out as he spots Felix, and makes a beeline straight for the blue-haired boy. They’re both unarmed, much to Felix’s luck, and so only have their own bodies to use against each other, and use them they do: the pirate lunges at the smaller boy, and Felix squeaks in fright but uses his self defense skills he’d learned back in 2019, grabbing the man’s upper arm and yanking it to the side, over his head, and pinning it to his back, effectively disarming him from being able to hurt him. 

“That was easy,” Felix blows the hair out of his eyes before landing a kick straight to the pirate’s back, letting him fall straight off the ship and into the water below. As long as he could swim, Felix knows he won’t die, so he feels no remorse in doing what he’d just done as it had been purely in self-defense. 

The next pirate he’s faced with, however, is certainly not as easy to defeat; he’s armed with a long, thick dagger, and is running at full speed towards Felix, who gulps and whips his head around, looking for a more secure place to flee and try to fight this pirate off where he  _ isn’t _ vulnerable to being pushed off the ship as he had just done to the enemy before him. 

“Shit,” Felix whispers to himself, and almost chokes on his words as he realises there’s nowhere to go; the pirate is already taking aim, there was no way he’ll miss, Felix is about to die, he- 

_ The rigging. _

On a complete whim and running on adrenaline-fueled instincts alone, Felix throws himself forwards, onto the rigging, and  _ scales _ the woven mess of ropes like his life depends on it- which it very much  _ does _ \- and once he reaches the top, he clings to the rope with no intent to ever let go. 

The rope shakes beneath him as the pirate pursuing him tries his best to follow Felix up there, but loses his footing quite quickly, and growls in palpable anger. Instead of taking up more time trying to pursue Felix up the high rigging, he instead grabs the rope in both hands, shaking it with all of his might in an effort to dislodge the boy- and it starts working unsettlingly fast. Combined with the heavy wind up in the air and the enemy pirate’s strength, Felix can feel himself being shook free no matter how he holds onto the ropes- there’s literally no way out. He knows he’ll fall sooner or later- so why not give this pirate the element of surprise? 

Screaming loudly (he lets himself have that small chaotic joy just in this situation), Felix lets go of the rope, propelling himself off from the material with his feet, and aims straight for the pirate. It’s a long way to fall, but Felix is committed, arms flailing above him and feet poised to kill. 

Too fast for the enemy pirate to realise what’s happening, Felix lands right on top of him, sending him right onto the deck below Felix, hitting his head and shoulders  _ hard _ against the wood. 

Instantly, Felix scrambles to his feet and puts distance between himself and the pirate- he still doesn’t want to get stabbed- and surveys the deck. As of right now, Hyunjin is doing a magnificent job of capsizing the small boats that the opposing crew was using to get to their ship with, so their only hindrance is the pirates that have already made it onboard. 

“Shit- JEONGIN, LOOK OUT,” Felix yells as a particularly huge pirate sprints for their youngest: Jeongin turns around straight away and grabs the pirate’s positioned pistol bravely, twisting it out of his hand before grabbing his arm in a vice grip and cruelly twisting it, and Felix gasps as the pirate- who was about twice the size of Jeongin- cries out in pain, falling to his knees. 

“Yes Jeongin,” Felix cheers quietly to himself, and Jeongin looks back in Felix’s direction once more- Felix barely has time to register the younger’s face contorting in panic before-

Pain. White hot pain sears right through his waist, and Felix gasps in silent agony before his knees buckle and he falls onto the deck, both hands flying to his wounded side on reflex. When they come up to his face, wet with blood, Felix can only blink in shock, not quite believing what he’s seeing before he hears Jeongin scream. 

“FELIX, WATCH IT,” he yells, but Felix is in too much of a state of shock to take any notice as the pirate’s dagger comes down upon him again, missing by millimetres as the same pirate falls sideways and is sent toppling over the bulkhead and into the sea via one of Minho’s arrows; the elder being stood on the other end of the ship and having taken aim with a bow and arrow to- thankfully- save Felix from what would have without a doubt been certain death. 

Thank goodness Minho had the gut feeling to run back onto the main deck. He trusts his gut above anything, and right now it just saved Felix’s life.

“The cannons, wait-” Felix stumbles to his feet, brain registering that he definitely needs to keep manning the cannons since nobody else is there to do it. The ship is still under attack, he can think of no reason to leave his position! 

“Dumbass, you’re  _ injured _ ,” Jeongin practically growls, pulling him away from the cannons, where he’s started stumbling back over to. “You can’t work cannons when you’re bleeding out.” 

“I’VE GOT THE CANNONS. Go, Felix,” Chan orders, sprinting back over to where Felix had initially left and taking hold of one of the metal contraptions, loading it with lagrange before lighting it up and aiming to fire. “Captain’s orders.” 

Jeongin takes the chance to peer over the ship at the pirate who’d stabbed Felix, and is satisfied to find him suitably injured in the water, and is happy to see that he’s in no fit state to climb back aboard and finish his job. 

“I hope he dies a painful death in the salty sea water for that,” he sniffs, and turns back to Felix, who’s standing, watching the fights onboard ensue with interest. “Come on, Felix, I need to tend to your wound.” And with that, he leads Felix carefully below deck, thankfully with no more unpleasant encounters as their own crew currently outnumbers the amount of enemies aboard their ship, and gets to work preparing the medical bay for a number of other newly wounded crewmates. 

** 

“MINHO, get below deck, we’ve been hit,” Seungmin barks at the former prince as the ship shook with the impact of a cannon entering her sturdy form. Minho nods and runs at full speed back below deck, leaving Chan and Seungmin the only two members above deck whilst Jisung and Changbin can just barely be seen infiltrating their enemy’s ship, fighting their opponents. 

“No you don’t,” Seungmin growls as one more pirate climbs aboard, swinging a leg over the bulkhead to pull himself onto the deck. Taking one well-aimed swing with a long machete at his leg, the pirate is sent tumbling back into the water he’d climbed out of before he even had a chance to get onboard, and Seungmin peers over the bulkhead, smiling to himself in satisfaction at the sight of Hyunjin using their tail to topple the small boats over in their enemy’s process of getting to their ship. Maybe it really does have benefits, having a siren as a part of their crew. 

“Any more coming?” Chan yells over his shoulder, heaving a small cannonball into the closest cannon and aiming for the bottom of the opposite ship. “A couple more hits to their ship and we’ll have this in the bag.”

“No more that I can see, Captain, Hyunjin has them all capsizing,” Seungmin replies, not bothering to keep the glee out of his voice. Chan laughs loudly, firing his cannon before getting up and nodding his head at the younger. 

“Keep firing these for a second, I gotta see this.” 

The two swap places, and Seungmin heard, rather than saw, Chan start clapping his hands and guffawing loudly at the sight of the tiny boats of around ten people apiece being thrown about in the water by the strong currents of water Hyunjin is creating under the surface. It looks truly comical. 

“Captain, we can take her down faster if you shoot at the same time as I do,” Seungmin throws the suggestion over his shoulder at his amused friend. “Let’s get this done with.” 

“Got it, dear Seungmin,” Chan crouches back down and gets to work loading up their cannons for their winning shots. 

**

“IS THAT ALL YOU’VE GOT?” Jisung laughs maniacally at the adrenaline surging through his body, disarming pirate after pirate with simple swings off his sword and free arm. This ship definitely contains no trained pirates; this much is glaringly obvious. Jisung might have felt even a little guilty if they hadn’t been the ones to attack first. 

“JISUNG, behind you, showoff,” Changbin growls, leaning forward to stab one pirate in the side before spinning around and kicking another away with a boot to the abdomen. 

“Sneaky,” Jisung comments as he spins around almost casually before lunging forward and swinging one sword, arm out beside him, and easily wrangling the weapon out of his opponent’s hand before pushing him away with a painful slash to the upper leg. “This is so  _ easy. _ ”

“You know what Seungmin says about pride,” Changbin warns the cocky younger as he joins him; pressing their backs together, swords out as they become surrounded by their enemy crew, and Jisung laughs sickly, his eyes darkening as he holds his sword out. 

“The only fall here will be theirs.” 

**

“Shit, shit, oh my goodness,” Minho is panicking, having run below-deck to find a sizable cannon-hole in the wood of the ship. The cannon is rolling about audibly somewhere on the deck out of sight, but he can’t see it as he gathers his materials to patch up the wood; desperately hoping that the ship won’t sink just a few centimetres below where it already sits on the waves. 

The cannon has thankfully not pierced the ship below the waterline, but is only perhaps a hand’s worth of space between the damage and the sea, so Minho knows that with just one higher wave of water, the ship will begin to fill up. 

With that in mind, he immediately sets to work finding a piece of copper sheathing to fit over the damaged area, and thankfully finds one big enough- the hole was around the width of his shoulders- and sets to work frantically hammering it onto the mixture of wood and metal layering that the cannon had broken through. 

The ship shakes suddenly, and Minho loses his footing where he’s bent down to work on the surface and falls, head-first, onto the edge of the splintered mess of materials, and he cries out in pain at the feeling of wood, splinters and sharpened metal scraping against and into the soft skin of his face, but pulls back as soon as he regains balance, paying no attention to the blood that had begun to trickle down his face and onto his clothes, arms and the floor beneath him; simply continuing to nail the copper sheathing into the wall of the ship with countless nails. Using all of his strength to get it as close to the surface as possible and consequently block out any possible water buildup or additions that may make it through, Minho grunts against the effort of holding the stiff sheathing against the damaged wood with his shoulder as he nails it into the wall with enough strength to make his muscles ache. 

Once he’s finished, he’s quick to lug a sandbag from the next deck over to the repair work, sitting it beneath the patched-up surface in case any water does make it through and onto the deck. It’s probably better to absorb the water, and not let it make the deck slippery, right? 

He hasn’t heard too much from the above decks these past few minutes, so he ignores the aching needles of pain mithering his cheeks, chin and forehead and instead runs back up above deck, ready to await his next order until the rest of their enemies have been defeated. 

** 

“Jeongin, I’m  _ fine, _ let me go back and help-” Felix struggles against the younger’s experienced hands as Jeongin tries and fails to wrestle him onto one of the wooden beds they had set up for medical emergencies. 

“Felix, you’re going nowhere until you’re stitched up. You’re losing too much blood,” Jeongin insists, voice rising to an almost painful level against Felix’s resistance, and he was not ready to give up any time soon. The ship shakes, and the two are sent hurtling sideways; Jeongin falling against the bed whilst Felix almost loses his footing but regains balance before he can follow and land on top of the younger. 

“I’m sorry, but  _ not now, _ ” Felix whispers, leaving Jeongin trying to regain his own balance as Felix sprints out of the medical bay and uses all of his determination and strength to propel himself back above-deck, ignoring Jeongin’s yells behind him. 

Sunshine hits his face full-force and for a second Felix forgets how to breathe in the unadulterated heat before he catches sight of Seungmin and Chan manning two out of the three cannons their ship has on its right side, and Felix sprints for the middle one, loading it with both lagrange  _ and _ a cannonball- a risky combination as the lagrange held risk of blocking the cannon’s exit- and lights the cannon up before taking aim. 

“Felix, you’re wounded-” Chan is quick to try and send him back before Felix cuts him off. 

“I’m  _ fine.” _ In his defense, adrenaline is one  _ hell _ of a drug, and he can barely even feel his wound as he holds the canon steady, eyes narrowed and focused on his intended spot on the opposing ship: right at the front of the ship, where water flow would be flowing most strongly towards- and just  _ slightly _ below where the sealine starts; this way the water won’t slow down the cannon’s journey nor take away from its force but will do satisfyingly fatal damage in that the ship will instantly begin to fill with water and be  _ much _ harder to fix before it goes under. 

“Felix!” Jeongin’s tone is  _ murderous _ as he finally runs up after Felix, but he’s too late to stop the blue-haired time traveller as the cannon fires alongside Chan and Seungmin’s cannons, just a few seconds after their individual others, and-  _ bang. _

Felix’s lip curls in satisfaction as his cannon pierces the ship  _ right _ where he’d hoped it would; panicked yells filling their enemy’s ship from the remaining crew onboard as they realise what damage had been done to their beloved vessel.

“That’ll do nicely.” 

“Nice shot, Felix, wow,” Seungmin praises the proud-looking sailor, and Felix grins back at him with pride. 

“Okay, all we gotta do is get Jisung and Changbin back… AYE! LOOKOUT! QUARTERMASTER!” Chan bellows, cupping his mouth to amplify his volume. “BACK TO SHIP!” 

Jisung’s face pops up on the opposite ship, grinning and a little bloodied up; and he nods and wastes no time in climbing their rigging; Changbin not far behind. The two have at least three pirates each hot on their trail as they climb up and swing themselves into their air with reckless abandon, using their cutlasses to dislodge their followers and executing two perfect landings back on the Strays’ ship with their own individual flourishes. It’s like an art form.

“We’re back, captain, what did we miss?” Jisung bows mockingly, and laughs at the yells from their enemy crew to  _ “abandon ship”. _ “Nice work, everybody.” 

Changbin has a large gash on his shoulder that’s impressively bloody, even through his clothes, and Jisung has multiple smaller cuts to his biceps and face, but it doesn’t appear as if they’re mortally wounded, which is what matters. 

Unlike  _ Felix, _ who Jeongin looks as if he were about to murder  _ himself _ if the older boy doesn’t get back into the medical bay  _ right now.  _

“Seungmin, steer the ship away from this near-wreckage until we’re safe from them pursuing us,” Chan orders, “and I’ll go and make sure everything is okay below-deck.” 

“Yes, captain,” Seungmin salutes, having sustained no injuries that need immediate attention apart from a couple of cuts here and there; nothing that won’t heal on their own. 

“Felix,  _ please _ go and  _ stay _ in the medical bay now. Anyone else who needs medical attention-” Chan stops to fix Changbin with a glance- “go with them too.” Chan disappears below-deck, where he finds Minho midway up, and immediately sends him to Jeongin too at the sight of his bloodied face. Damn, it looks painful; all blood and splinters. The sight is shudder-inducing.

“I don’t… I’m not feeling-” Felix suddenly turns white as a sheet and passes right out, slumping against Jeongin’s shoulder heavily (at least he didn’t go tumbling to the floor) and Jeongin heaves a gigantic sigh, catching the wounded boy with ease and holding him up as he gives Changbin a once-over. 

“ Changbin, can you still move your arm?” 

***

“Damn,” Jisung whistles lowly as Minho’s head pops back up onto the main deck before the rest of his body follows. “What happened to your pretty face, hmm?”

Minho scowls. Jeongin had spent a good twenty minutes below-deck, pulling out individual splinters and even some bigger actual pieces of wood that had broken off after piercing his face, and now his entire head throbs with the pain. To Jisung’s question, he doesn’t bother answering, feeling irritable and tired. 

“Hey.” Jisung’s face pops into Minho’s field of view again as he leaps onto the rigging and swings there like a monkey. “What happened?”

“I was fixing a hole in the ship and lost my footing and fell into the wood.”

Jisung sucks in a breath through his teeth, looking sympathetic. “Splinters. They’re painful as hell, huh?”

Minho nods tightly. “Yeah.”

Swinging in silence for a few seconds, Jisung decides to jump back off the rigging and instead takes a few more steps towards the elder of the two. “Do you have anything to keep the cuts from getting infected?”

Jisung? Being nice to Minho? Well, now the prince feels guilty for brushing him off. His tone is gruff when he replies.

“Jeongin has some honey below deck, he said to just reapply it when needed.” 

“Okay, good, good.” Jisung tilts his head then, the wind catching his hair and blowing it back with gentle fingers as he looks out at the infinite expanse of water that stretches around them. “I hope it doesn’t hurt too much.”

Minho pushes away the newfound feeling of...  _ warmth _ in his chest and instead just nods curtly. “I’m fine.” 

A loud splash resounds behind them as Hyunjin heaves themself onto the bulkhead, not entering the ship explicitly but holding themself up against the walls with their arms; only their head and shoulders visible above the wood. 

“Hey, guys!” 

Seungmin is the closest to the siren, so he speaks first. “You’re still not allowed onboard, last time I checked.” 

Hyunjin rolls their eyes and chortles. “I’m not  _ in _ the ship. Just… on it. Besides, I’m injured.” They make sure to widen their eyes dramatically and blink poutily at the ship’s pilot, who sighs. 

“How so?”

“My tail.” Hyunjin really is pouting for all they’re worth. “I got shot by those bastard enemy pirates.”

“Shot?” Jisung walks over to the siren and looked overboard, where their tail hangs next to the ship. “Oh, damn. That looks painful.”

“It  _ is, _ ” Hyunjin replies. “If it’s not too much to ask,” their words are slightly mocking, “I’d like to request medical attention. After all, I did just help your cause immensely .” 

“Jeongin’s just tending to Felix and Changbin, but I’ll go and tell him,” Minho offers, already making his way back below deck, not wanting to see Hyunjin’s tail for proof of injury. He doesn’t like the sight of blood at the best of times; he has no desire to see any more than he’s already seen today. 

“I’ll just go and check with Chan,” Jisung offers an apologetic smile to Hyunjin as he backs away, “always gotta run things by the captain.” 

As Jisung disappears, Hyunjin turns to Seungmin again, looking delighted with this new situation. “Are  _ you _ hurt?” his tone is far too happy for the question. 

“Not too badly, just a few scratches here and there,” Seungmin stares straight ahead as he steers the ship along, “where abouts in your tail were you shot?”

“Right in the middle. It made swimming a lot harder after that,” Hyunjin complains. “I want to lift it up here and show you but it  _ hurts _ .” 

“You’ll have to climb onboard somehow,” Seungmin quips, raising an eyebrow. “Unless you can shift beforehand.”

Eyes widening dramatically, Hyunjin shakes their head. “I can’t shift whilst injured. I have no idea what it’ll do to me like this.”

“Then how are you going to get to the medical bay?”

Hyunjin beams. “You’ll have to carry me!” they chirps, tossing their hair over their shoulder with a flick of the head. 

“I’m not carrying you.” Seungmin’s tone is blunt. 

“Why?”

“I’m steering the ship.”

“We’ve lost our enemies by miles now, you can take a short break!”

“No.”

“Please?”

Seungmin sighs, and lets go of the wheel. “Wait until Chan confirms your entry aboard. I’ll think about it.” 

As if on cue, Jisung re-emerges from Chan’s office, triumphant. “Chan says it’s fine! Hyunjin helped us, so  _ I’d _ say they’re fully welcome aboard now they’ve proved themself loyal.” 

Hyunjin makes a melodic sound of happiness, and uses their arms to heave themself over the bulkhead, landing head-first in a messy pile of limbs and bloodied scales on the wood. “Urgh…”

“Come on,” Seungmin bends down and scoops them into his arms, bridal style, as if they weigh no more than a puppy, “let’s get you sorted out.” 

And it’s funny, really, how fast the siren’s demeanour changes. “Suddenly the pain was worth it,” they comment innocently, immediately perking up and straightening their back in Seungmin’s arms before reaching up to play with his hair. “I quite like this arrangement.”

“Don’t get used to it.”

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


“Felix, sit  _ still. _ ” 

Jeongin is currently working on stitching the wound in Felix’s side, and the latter is predictably squirming around in pain after having woken back up just a few minutes after collapsing. Changbin has already been attended to; his own wound cleaned and freshly bandaged- now he’s just sitting on the nearest clear surface to watch Felix and cackle at his expense. 

“I’ll pin him down,” the eldest eagerly offers, and Felix squeals. 

“NO! No thank you.” Felix readjusts himself where he’s laying on the table, and settles, releasing a deep sigh. “I’m still.” 

Jeongin, too, sighs. “We’re nearly done,” his voice softens, as he lays a hand on Felix’s uninjured side in comfort. “Just a few more stitches.”

“Just a few more,” Felix repeats. “Okay.”

“Damn, I wish I had a snack right now,” Changbin muses, purposely loud and disruptive as he swings his legs back and forth. “This is entertaining.”

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” Jeongin scolds lightly as he pulls the needle back through Felix’s skin, wincing for the elder boy as his fingers tightens around the edge of the table below him. 

“Nope, I can stay here  _ all day, _ ” Changbin emphasises, grinning from ear to ear. “Am I not supporting either of you morally?”

“Funnily enough, that is  _ not _ the vibe you’re giving out right now,” Felix speaks through gritted teeth. “Vibe. There’s a new word for you.” 

“Vibe.” Changbin rolls the word around his mouth like he was tasting it for the first time. “I know that word anyway.”

“Yep, but not in this context,” Felix inhales, exhales, draws in some  _ calm _ from the sea air. “Go and tell Jisung you’ve found some new lingo or something. This is your opportunity to one-up him.”

“Oh, you’re right!” Changbin’s eyes light up as he pushes himself off his ledge and jumps back onto the floor with a crash. “Bye!” 

The sound of Changbin’s receding footsteps are the only thing that breaks their newfound silence then, apart from Felix’s occasional squeaks of pain as Jeongin carefully stitches his wound up securely. 

“And… done. That was the last one.” Jeongin ties the switches closed with careful fingers before giving the newly-formed line of thread a wipe down with a cloth and antiseptic solution he’d acquired onland. “I’ll need to clean this twice a day at least until the stitches come out. But well done, you did it.”

Felix sits up slowly, running his fingers gingerly over the cut, and steadfastly ignores the fact that the wood beneath him is covered in his blood as he looks back up at the ship’s medic. 

“Thank you, Jeongin.”

“Of course.” Jeongin rubs the back of his neck and looks away awkwardly, still not quite used to the genuinity that Felix seems to permanently exude. “Can’t have you bleeding out on us.” 

“No... “ Felix laughs quietly, and swings his legs off the table, ready to climb off, but lets out a small ‘woah’ as the world spun on its axis. “Dizzy.”

“You should maybe lay back for a little while,” Jeongin suggests. “Let me just clean all your blood away, first.” 

“I can help…” Felix grabs a cloth from the younger’s hands and wipes at the table, trying to scrub away the red stains before it all dries. Something wet suddenly makes contact with his exposed skin, and he yelps in surprise. 

“Sorry,” Jeongin stands in front of him holding another cloth, “But you also need to be blood-free, ideally.” 

“‘S fine,” Felix mumbles, purposely avoiding eye contact as he pays  _ extra _ attention to the table. “You know… I kind of have a fear of needles. But having you stitch me up really wasn’t so bad, when I looked past it all…” 

“There’s nothing to be afraid of.” Jeongin offers a smile. 

“Still. Thank you, again.” 

Jeongin’s arms suddenly encircle Felix’s waist, and the elder boy yelps in shock  _ again _ as Jeongin’s clothed torso presses against his exposed one. 

“You said you liked hugs, right?” the medic mumbles into the cool air. “... I thought you might appreciate the extra comfort.” 

“Oh…” Felix hides his smile on the younger’s shoulder. “Yeah, that’s actually really welcome. Thank you.” 

Jeongin’s body is warm; solid against Felix’s own, and he feels himself melting against the other. 

“Hey guys- oh?” Minho comes ambling down and stops abruptly. “Am I interrupting anything?”

“No, no, everything’s fine,” Felix retracts his arms from where he’d returned the embrace and desperately hopes he isn’t as red as he feels. “Is everything good?”

“Yeah, uh, Hyunjin got shot in the water? So is it okay if we bring them down here for treatment?”

“Of course, bring them down here,” Jeongin steps away from Felix, and just like that, the spell is broken. 

“I’ll pretend I didn’t just see that… for the sake of your consciences,” Minho grins before darting away. Felix blushes deeply and averts his eyes. 

“So, I’ll get off this table, and go and lay elsewhere,” he announces, finding that his legs are shakier than anticipated after losing so much blood and being patched up. 

“Hi, Felix!” Hyunjin chirps merrily as he’s carried past the blue-haired boy as they cross paths on their individual journeys. Felix shakes his head in amusement and chooses not to comment on how intimate Hyunjin and Seungmin look as Seungmin cradles the other to his chest. Despite the offput look on the pilot’s face, Felix can clearly sense an underlying affection. 

Interesting. 

Either way, they’ll all figure things out in due time. For now, Felix just hopes Jeongin will be able to patch up the nasty-looking bullet wound in Hyunjin’s beautiful tail just as well as he’s done Felix.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enemy pirate shanking felix in the gut: VIBE CHECK


	7. chapter seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Jeongin, tie yourself down,” Chan yells, and then he’s got a new rope, a new one given to Minho, and Changbin hands one to Jisung, to Felix, to Seungmin, and then he’s tying the last one around his own middle as he yells at Chan to do the same.
> 
> “Chan, tie yourself down, don’t lose time, it’s our last hope,” Changbin screams, voice cracking and painful from the sting of saltwater, and then everybody’s joining in; rushing hands and fumbling fingers from the boys on either side of him rush to tie him down, he’s almost there, almost secure--
> 
> The ship lurches again; a gargantuan wave surges overboard, and with it, Chan is swept into the sea, and away from the crew he keeps safe behind him, screaming and helpless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [staring off into distance] uhhhh hey im back lmao but u know what they say it's bETTER LATE THAN NEVER enjoy enjoy lovelies!!!

The ship rocks up and down on the constant rolling waves of the deep, and Minho once again laying on the top deck of the ship, arms and legs splayed like a starfish as he gazes up at the stars. Although it’s right in the dead of night, the light from the moon and stars protect him from being swallowed by the darkness completely, and Minho feels safe. 

Protected.

  
  


Calm.

  
  
  


He’s so caught up in his own thoughts that he fails to hear a certain lookout climbing out from the crow’s nest; fails to catch the movement of him sliding down the rigging with ease until he lays down next to Minho with a soft “hello” as greeting, making the elder jump a little.

“Can I join you?” Jisung whispers, as if afraid to break the spell that the darkness had cast over the sea.

“There’s nothing stopping you.”

Propping himself up on one elbow, Jisung lets himself gaze down at Minho’s features, bathed in silver light.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You just did.”

“Then I’m asking you another thing.” Jisung inhales, exhales. “Why don’t you like me?”

“That’s not true.”

“It is true. You don’t treat me like you do the others,” Jisung lets some of his frustration creep into his voice. “You’re cold towards me. I’ve done nothing to you.” 

Minho doesn’t reply for a few moments, staring up at the sky as he thought. Logically, now that he thinks about it,  _ properly _ considers things, there’s no  _ real _ reason that he doesn’t like the younger.

In fact, over the past couple days, he’d developed a sort of… fondness for him. Whatever that meant. 

“I’m sorry.” The apology even surprised Minho, and it was he who had said it. “I’m not sure why I’ve not been the nicest towards you… If I’m honest, I think it’s because I associate you with heights- we met as you climbed in through my window, and you’re always up in the crow’s nest. I’m terrified of heights,” Minho admits quietly. “I think that might be the reason… not that it excuses my behaviour at all.” 

“Oh.” Jisung releases a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding, the air coming out slightly misty in the cool chill of the night. “That’s understandable… but really, there’s nothing to be afraid of, heights-wise. That doesn’t define me, either.”

“I know. I should have tried to get to know you better instead of just letting my own fears project onto my judgement of you… that was stupid of me.” Minho pushes himself up into a sitting position and holds out a hand. “Friends?”

Jisung grins and takes the proffered hand. “Friends!” keeping a firm grip on Minho’s hand, he stands up, and starts pulling the other up with him, too. “Come on.”

“Where?” the prince blinked rapidly; endearingly. Jisung hides a smile. 

“I want to show you how beautiful the world is from my perspective,” was all he said, before managing to pull Minho up to the rigging, where he starts climbing. “Trust me.”

“Jisung, I just told you I’m terrified of heights.”

“Okay, then I’ll come down, and you climb up first. I’ll be right behind you, ready to catch you if you fall.”

Minho shifts from foot to foot, not liking the idea at all… but he’d just made up with Jisung and become friends, he couldn’t offend him by declining the offer, could he? Call him royalty; he was never one to intentionally offend people he wanted to favour. It’s etiquette!

Whimpering silently, Minho braces himself mentally and begins climbing before Jisung has a chance to jump down, and so the lookout just keeps climbing above him, though he doesn’t look away from Minho once; ready to help at any given opportunity.

Jisung is experienced in this field, and now that Minho is over the boundary of dislike after finally admitting the real reason for his suspicions and borderline hatred for the man, he can now see again… can see  _ reason _ , and realises that the truth and sincerity coating Jisung’s words of encouragement are completely genuine. He trusts him; he trusts that tone of voice. It’s a shocking thing to feel, and it drenches Minho like ice water.

“Just… don’t look down until you’re in the crow’s nest, that’ll probably help,” Jisung suggests helpfully. Minho exhales shakily and keeps his gaze fastened strictly on his own hands, nowhere else; not the sea, not the rope; ignores the feeling of the rigging wobbling around under his weight. He can do this.

“You’re at the top, give me your hands,” Jisung orders, and Minho looks up to find Jisung’s face hanging inches from his own as he swings his torso out of the crow’s nest; a familiar action for the younger that sends fear spiking through the elder’s heart.

“Come on,” Jisung encourages, and Minho lets go of the ropes with one hand, clinging to the wooden nest until his knuckles turn white. Jisung wraps a hand around his wrist, securely.

“I’ve got you. Let go with your other hand.”

Squeezing his eyes closed, Minho let go and flailed until his other hand found wood, and felt Jisung’s other hand wrap around his free wrist too before he pulled himself up, heaving himself over the edge of the wood and topping into the nest with an ‘oof’. 

“You did it!” Jisung cheers. Minho sits up and curls his knees into his chest, looking like a kicked puppy.

“It’s too high up.”

“You’re safe!” Jisung argued. “Don’t you want to see the view from up here?”

“I’m good,” Minho’s eyes fill with fear and he freezes as a small gust of wind makes the crow’s nest shake just the tiniest bit. Jisung held back his laughter; he knew it was mean to laugh at things one couldn’t control.

“It’s perfectly safe,” he encourages. “I’m right here! The wind can’t get you when I’m around.”

At that, Minho allows himself a small giggle, and pushes himself up so that he’s kneeling up on the wood, peering over the edge of the wall curiously- and  _ oh. _

The view is indeed incredible from all the way up there…

Where on-deck Minho could only see the perimeter of the ship and a human’s view of the sea, up here he felt he could finally witness what the birds did as they flew overhead every day. Here he could see  _ miles _ more of the sea; it seemed so much more infinite in its expanse as it glittered and rolled under the moonlight.

“Oh…” Minho can’t stop the awed sound spilling from his lips, and Jisung laughs, loud and free, echoing through the still night.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Jisung agrees.

“It’s breathtaking… maybe this is what the birds see every day.”

“It definitely is,” Jisung laughs again. “I like that analogy.”

Standing up on shaky legs, Minho closes his eyes for a moment, letting the wind card through his hair before opening his eyes again to stare over the expanse of velvet-dark water. “It feels like the wind is carrying us.”

“It’s like sailing on air instead of the sea,” the lookout adds reverently. “I’m glad you like it this much, after all.”  _ I’m glad you like  _ me _ this much… to trust me enough to do this, after all. _ “I hope it’s worth leaving your royal life behind for.”

Minho tears his gaze away from the sky to find every single star reflected in Jisung’s eyes. “I’ve never done something more worthwhile in my life.”

  
  
  


****

  
  
  


“Can you teach me how to steer the ship?” 

Hyunjin’s tail had fully healed two days ago, and ever since they have been given full permission from the crew to transform into their human form and live freely on the ship among the rest of their newfound friends. Since then, they had taken a liking to following Seungmin around as he tended to his responsibilities, reminding their crewmembers of a lost puppy; and perhaps a lovesick one at that. But despite Seungmin’s - sometimes cold - responses to the siren, even Hyunjin themself knew that the pilot was only growing fonder of them. 

“No.” 

Hyunjin whines, loud in the back of their throat, as they sit down next to the sailor’s feet, crossing their legs and folding their arms. “I want to help!” 

Seungmin glances back down at the siren at his feet, and the corners of his lips quirk up just slightly. “You want to steer the ship?”

“Yes!” 

Standing aside, the young sailor holds his hands up towards the wheel. “Be my guest.”

A pout makes its way back onto Hyunjin’s face as they stand. “I don’t know how.”

“You know perfectly well how to steer a ship, Hyunjin, you’ve been watching me do it for weeks now.”

“But what if I want help?”

Seungmin laughs heartily. “Let’s just see how you go first.”

Hyunjin grabs the wheel and  _ veers _ it to the left, and immediately Seungmin steps in, eyebrows raised and mouth in a silent ‘o’ of mild panic.

“No!” he grabs the wheel, “Not that way. Not that  _ hard _ , either.”

“Oops,” Hyunjin trills innocently. “Looks like you’ll have to help me, then. I’m a physical learner.”

“A physical- oh my goodness,” Seungmin deadpans. “You’re shameless.”

“Absolutely and utterly.”

“I can’t believe you.” Although his words suggest otherwise, Seungmin secretly likes the growing feeling that blooms in his chest as he gives in and indulges the siren; reaches across to cover Hyunjin’s hands with his own on the wood, and if he blushes a little at Hyunjin stepping a little closer to his body, who are they to judge? They can’t even see him anyway.

“See! It’s so much easier when you’re helping me,” Hyunjin is practically purring, and this time, Seungmin doesn’t roll his eyes.

Maybe he squeezes Hyunjin’s hands just the slightest under his own.

Details. He’ll never admit to anything.

  
  


****

“Look at them,” Felix coos as he watches Hyunjin and Seungmin out of the window of Chan’s office. Whilst himself, Jeongin, Changbin and the captain himself sit at Chan’s desk poring over the maps of the island that approaches faster with every passing minute, and they know that it’ll only take another week at most to reach it. Then they can move onto their next phase of their mission: dispose of that cursed rock.

“They’re  _ bonding _ ,” Chan sings, eyes lit up like the sky with mirth as the rest of the table turned to look out of the window at the decidedly progressing to less-than-platonic couple out on deck.

“I think Hyunjin could definitely help us with this planning, too,” Changbin reasons, bringing everyone’s attention back to the matter at hand, “they arguably know the sea better than any of us.” The ship rocks a little more than usual as he says the words, and Felix tips sideways a little, still not fully used to the ship’s movements even after his now-ample time spent aboard.

“That’s a very good point,” Chan agrees, and everybody turns to look out of the window again. “Should we go and ask them? I almost feel as if I’d be interrupting an intimate moment if I were to go and ask this very minute.”

“We can plan first and then ask for Hyunjin’s input afterwards, then. Nothing’s set in stone yet, so if Hyunjin recommends any change, we’ll change around it.”

“Good thinking, Changbin.” Felix cracks his knuckles and yawns, leaning backwards as he does so. “So, what have we got so far? I need a recap.”

The plan so far is simple: they have to turn the ship around slowly, as although Felix wasn't used to 1700s ships, he had no idea that it took them as long as they did to turn around. It was a more complex procedure than the ships in the future, which each have motors and specialised equipment for optimal efficiency. Now, they would have to take their time steering the ship around before readjusting sails and equipment for the ship to be further propelled by the wind, instead of relying solely on motors.

"It's so strange that we have to take such lengthy actions for such a simple task," Felix observes as Changbin explains the lengthy process to him, resting his head in his hands as Changbin gestures and points out of the office window to point parts of the ship out to the younger when necessary. "I never considered how everything is so much more manual and hands-on than in the future, even though it's so  _ obvious _ , really."

"These things often pass unnoticed until you're thrust right into the midst of them," Jeongin says intelligently, and Changbin ruffles his hair without pausing in his explanations of how the ship works -- he'd rambled off-topic quite some moments ago, but nobody was about to stop him. Felix was rather enjoying the explanations, really; it helps him get to grips with the ship more and immerse  himself a little more in this new life.

"Oh -- look! Hyunjin finally managed to get Seungmin to let them steer the ship," Jeongin cuts in again, voice high-pitched in excitement as he points out of the window. Three additional heads turn in unison to stare out of the window for the upteenth time, and Chan chuckles to himself at the thought of either Seungmin or Hyunjin looking into the cabin and seeing the four of them blatantly watching them in rapture, like a pack of bloodthirsty wolves.

“If they get together that would be adorable. I support it,” Felix announces. “Seungjin.”

“Did you just-” Changbin wrinkles his nose in confusion- “combine their names?”

“Yep. It’s a thing in the future, if you think people should date or are dating you give them a ‘ship’ name and it’s a combination of their names.”

“That’s creative,” Jeongin comments, voice slightly breathy as he thinks about it. “You have so much forbidden knowledge we’re all learning here.”

“Forbidden knowledge indeed!” Felix sits back and crosses his arms behind his head. “I love to think of the damage I’m doing to the future by telling you all of this. Maybe I’ve opened up a new dimension or something.”

“The future might not even exist at this point,” Chan agrees. “Just as well that you’re here instead.” 

“Maybe you’ve sent a deadly virus or alien into the future instead and you’ve narrowly escaped having to live through it by coming back in time,” Jeongin chips in. Felix snorts. 

“I highly doubt that, but hey- there’s literally no way of telling.” his eyes grow slightly distant as he zones out, staring into nothing. “I hope my family and friends are okay.”

“Oh,” Changbin gasps, “do you think they’ll know you’re missing? Or maybe you’ll have been erased from existence? They may not even know you at all if that’s the case…”

“ _ Thanks,  _ Changbin,” Felix laughs harshly as a repressed tidal wave of emotion hits him, standing up. “I… I think I need a minute. Carry on with the map without me.” 

He walks out of Chan’s office with tears threatening to spill from his eyes, and leaves the room with thick silence settling on them like a layer of hard-packed snow. 

“... Nice job, Bin,” Jeongin comments, and stands up too. “I’ll go see if he’s okay.”

“I didn’t mean to make him upset…” Changbin mumbles, running a hand through his hair, and Chan places a comforting hand on his arm, understanding. 

“I’m sure Felix knows that, don’t worry Binnie.” 

\---

“Felix?- did you see where Felix went?” Jeongin sprints onto the main deck after the blue-haired runaway, only to blink with surprise at him being nowhere to be found. “How did he disappear so fast?” 

“Felix? He’s up in the crow’s nest with Jisung,” Seungmin supplies as Hyunjin waves a hand up to the sky. 

_ How the hell did he climb up there so fast? _

“Felix?” Jeongin calls, shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand as he peers up at the wooden nest sitting proud atop the ship. Jisung pokes his head out and grins. 

“He’s up here, In.” 

“Can I come up?”

“Go ahead,” Jisung gives him permission before his head disappears back beneath the circular wooden walls and Jeongin sets about determinedly climbing the thick ropes, trying not to let the way the wind blows him about once he gets higher up in the air faze him. 

Finally, after what feels like years of climbing- Jisung really does have bravado to be able to be this high up for the most part of every day- Jeongin makes it into the crow’s nest, almost falling into the compartment but catching himself seconds before he would have slipped; narrowly avoiding what would have been a very embarrassing story for Jisung to tease him with later. 

“Felix?” is the first thing out of his mouth as his eyes land on the elder- wrapped in a hug by Jisung. Felix doesn’t move his face out of Jisung’s chest. “Are you alright? Changbin didn’t mean for his words to come out like that, he feels so bad about it now…”

“‘S alright…” Felix’s voice comes out muffled and thick with emotion. “It just…” he turns his head so his cheek is resting against Jisung, but he can look Jeongin in the eyes. “It just hit a heartstring, I guess. I’ve been trying to not think about what may or may not be happening back home.”

“Yeah…” Jeongin sighs, sympathetic; understanding yet unable to empathise. “It must be really hard for you.” 

“Yep,” Felix doesn’t sugarcoat his feelings this time. “It really is.” 

Jeongin hesitates; Jisung picks up on his inner conflict and stands up, dislodging Felix gently. “Hey, I have to keep looking over there, okay? Can’t risk more run-ins with enemy ships when we’re so close to Aqes Island.” He nods none-too-subtly at Jeongin and grins before picking his telescope back up and turning his back to the two. 

“Come here.” 

The words are all Felix needs to send him flying into Jeongin’s arms, and Jeongin lets himself wrap the other up in a comforting embrace. He knows what it’s like to be away from his family; whilst he wasn’t abducted or kidnapped away from them, he does understand how Felix feels. 

Mimicking the way his mother would comfort him as a child, Jeongin rubs comforting circles over Felix’s back; shushes him gently as Felix silently cries. 

“I know that I obviously can’t relate to your situation, but… I hope you can find a family here, Felix. In us.” 

Jeongin feels how Felix momentarily stiffens, but he doesn’t mention it as Felix replies shortly after.

“... Thank you.” 

A part of Felix wants to stand up, to flee the crow’s nest and avoid Jeongin’s gaze for the next few days. Even back in Australia, he was never one for such raw vulnerability, not even to his own mother: this level of openness with another being was honestly a little terrifying. But he couldn’t bring himself to pull away from Jeongin’s warmth, and even more than that - he knew, deep down, that he truly could trust him, and the rest of the crew, with any of the worries and burdens he had. 

And perhaps that was the most scary thing of all. 

  
  


****

  
  


It’s one day later, and the crew is in complete disarray; the waves upon which their entire home sits are steadily rising and the winds are picking up.

Jeongin leans over the bulkhead as everybody begins organising their emergency plan in a frenzy, letting the fresh, damp wind ruffle his hair straight through to the roots and feeling adrenaline begin to run its course through his veins. A slow grin starts to spread upon his face; although they’re about to face certain death it really isn’t out of routine for a pirate, and the added fear instantly melts into anticipation for yet another challenge to take on and conquer.

“Have you been through many storms like this one?” Felix approaches him and asks, hands gripping the bulkhead for dear life as the sea stirs to life and rocks the ship a little more than usual. Jeongin glances at the unsteady boy; this will definitely be a lot harder for the inexperienced time traveller. 

“Many a year, indeed,” Jeongin says, unable to remove the excitement from his voice, “I love it, to be honest. Despite the danger, it’s when the sea’s at her liveliest.” 

“And what if we’re swept overboard?” Felix’s voice is quiet, but laced with fear that speaks volumes his vocal range could never even begin to cover.

The wind picks up; a particularly heavy wave comes crashing down metres away from the ship, and thick spray rains heavily down upon the crew, salty and vicious.

"A man overboard... will be lost to the tides forever."

"STOW THE SAILS!" Chan yells suddenly, and Minho gasps - it's like the very  _ air _ has changed; thick and salty and nearly suffocating in the heat and strength of the wind. It's forceful, a tornado in itself that makes its home in his lungs, and Minho's overwhelmed with panic and fear and the need to  _ help;  _ help it go away. But this is no royal affair; he has no experience in this sort of situation. He has  _ no idea what to do,  _ or if they'll even survive the night.

Seungmin and Jisung sprint to the back of the ship and climb the rigging immediately, paying no mind to the wind that batters them around like rag dolls in the air. Minho's stomach drops as Seungmin loses his footing for a second, hanging by his hands only, but tears his eyes away when the younger finds his footing again and resumes climbing.

"Minho, over here," Chan orders over the howling of the wind, and Minho sprints to close the short distance between the two, eyes wide open and ears ready to receive orders.

"Jisung and Seungmin are stowing the back sails first, then they'll stow away the low courses. Be there when they do and help them do so," Chan relays, and Minho stands straight, fighting the urge to bow or salute him and instead nodding and rushing over to the lower course, not waiting for the others to join him as his fingers fumble clumsily with the ropes holding the sails down, hands shaky and unsure from lack of experience.

The storm hasn't even started properly, and yet the waves are terrifyingly large, and Felix feels his heart rise like bile to the back of his throat whenever a new one approaches, making their ship rock dangerously close to tipping before it's sent hurtling back down the next side of it, not unlike a seagull - except  _ much _ larger, dangerous and  _ full of people. _

"We're steering towards land!" Changbin yells, and Seungmin groans loudly, following Changbin's gesture with frustration. "Go and steer - we can't dock now."

"Why can't we dock? Surely we'd be much safer," Felix shouts back, but Seungmin shakes his head as he runs to the wheel of the ship and begins steering, needing to exert much more force with the urgency of the situation.

"We can't go towards shore now, the waves are too violent. The bottom of the ship would be ripped straight off, and then we'd all be dead within the hour," Changbin explains to him, fingers expert compared to Minho's attempts as he, Felix and Minho all fumble with the fore topsail. "We have to move out into the open sea before the sheer force of the tide drags us into land against our power -- OH!"

The ship rocks again, and Changbin is sent careening straight into Minho, who falls onto the slippery deck with Changbin sprawled over him, both immediately scrambling to get up again and assist with the sails as fast as they can. Felix makes a small 'oh' of realisation, and it's then that the rain starts: a violent force from the start; thick, painful needles stabbing at every inch of skin available and making the entire crew want to cry out in pain.

"Where's Hyunjin?"

"They went below water," Seungmin cries out as the sea roars beneath the ship, "I can't remember why-"

"They're just there!" Minho supplies, pointing overboard to where he thought he saw the siren's tail flickering below the waves. "Or perhaps not..."

"Seungmin, can you angle the ship?" Chan struggles to project his voice across the entire ship as the wind formed countless barriers between them, "the waves are getting bigger!"

"Well, thank  _ god _ we're relatively well-stocked right now," Seungmin gasps, "or else we'd definitely--" his sentence is cut off abruptly as the ship is thrown to one side, and he grabs onto the wheel for dear life as the top of a wave crashes overboard, soaking him heavily, "--  _ or else we'd definitely be dead by now! _ "

His words rang true, for in a storm, the heavier the ship was, the more likely it was to survive - however ironic it seemed on the surface. With more cargo weighing it down, their ship would be able to stay anchored in the water with less chance of being upturned or launched out of the sea by force of the waves - which would be absolutely fatal. They need the rudder to stay submerged if they want even a _ chance _ of escaping alive. 

Most of the crew knew this by experience and a life at sea; however Felix and Minho clearly didn’t, but there’s no time to explain to them when they could be helping keep the crew alive instead. 

“Jisung, go and fetch the medium ropes from below deck,” Chan orders, and Jisung nods, running on nimble feet below deck to fetch eight ropes of similar length. This was for an absolute last resort - if the storm were to grow especially violent, the crew’s only hope of survival would be to tie themselves down to their ship’s fixtures and hope to any and every higher power that they won’t be swept off deck, or dragged beneath the surface if they do end up sinking. 

It takes but a few moments for Jisung to return back above deck with the ropes - but those few minutes trudge slowly; they’re charged with slow-moving treacle that sticks to the steady influx of seconds into minutes and time feels as if it stands still as the ship rises, rises, rises and then  _ falls _ , jerking painfully heavily back down onto the waves below it and sending everybody flying.

Jisung reappears, a new gash weeping blood from his upper arm where the ship threw him sideways but full of ropes and determination as he hands them to Chan, who splits them with Changbin as they begin tying the ropes as fast as they can with frozen hands and shaky vision. They’re fast, they’re fast, but not fast enough - 

“Jeongin, tie yourself down,” Chan yells, and then he’s got a new rope, a new one given to Minho, and Changbin hands one to Jisung, to Felix, to Seungmin, and then he’s tying the last one around his own middle as he yells at Chan to do the same.

“Chan, tie yourself down, don’t lose time, it’s our last hope,” Changbin screams, voice cracking and painful from the sting of saltwater, and then everybody’s joining in; rushing hands and fumbling fingers from the boys on either side of him rush to tie him down, he’s almost there, almost secure--

The ship lurches again; a gargantuan wave surges overboard, and with it, Chan is swept into the sea, and away from the crew he keeps safe behind him, screaming and helpless.

“ _ CHAN, _ ” multiple crewmates scream in unison, but there’s nothing they can do; panic makes their minds fuzzy as they struggle against their rope constraints and fight against the water that so mercilessly snatched their captain from them so close to being secure himself.

A flash of red darts out from beneath the churning waves, and an arm breaks the surface; right as the crew lose sight of their beloved leader he’s grabbed by something; or rather, some _ one _ , into a strong hold and finally Hyunjin,  _ thank god for Hyunjin, _ they’ve got Chan, it’s alright, he’s going to be okay.

The storm rages on; the ship comes close to capsizing but due to some holy, or even  _ un _ holy miracle, the crew manage to make it out alive, with aching lungs and rope burn but beating hearts and working limbs. Hyunjin seems the most exhausted of all of them, understandably - having held Chan out of the relentlessly growing waves and waters for hours on end inevitably left them with a body weak and shaking like a leaf.

Seungmin is the one to drag Chan back on board first, watching in relief as he hacks up mouthfuls of water onto the deck before finally fully passing out, unconscious on the wood. Jeongin runs to him, checking up on his body the best he can, and Seungmin turns to the hull, almost crying out in concern as he sees Hyunjin’s own body almost limp in the water before he remembers that sirens can breathe underwater; and that they’re doing just fine. 

Nevertheless, Hyunjin extends a hand to grab Seungmin’s offered one and lets the pilot tug them overboard, collapsing against their younger crewmate who leads them over to the rest of the crew who are more than anxious to aid their recovery and offer their deepest thanks for saving their captain. Hyunjin shrugs it off, more interested in resting and gaining body warmth - preferably through another person, and so Felix becomes their pillow for a while - whilst the rest of the crew set to work tending to Chan’s unconscious body and beginning the long process of ridding the ship of water as best they can.

It’s going to be a long week.

****

  
  


“Chan… Chan, Chan, please wake up, Chan…”

Voices, faint water splashes, footsteps. Hushed murmurs accompanied by upset-sounding exclamations. A hand running through his hair, two hands holding each of his own, holding them  _ tightly _ , holding them safe.

Safe.

He’s safe.

He’s  _ safe _ ? 

Chan’s eyes fly open and he gasps in great lungfuls of air, finally registering the painful drag of fresh oxygen into his lungs and the uncomfortable way his wet clothes stick to his body; the hard floor beneath him feeling as if it’s pushing the back of his head completely flat. He tries to lift his head, but it’s pushed back down by someone as a series of gasps and shushes envelope him.

“He’s awake,” Jeongin says, and the relief in his voice brings tears to his captain’s eyes just by hearing it. “He’s gonna be okay.”

“What--” Words are wrenchingly hard to say, but Chan struggles through the slicing sting of his oesophagus to communicate, “What happened?” The last thing he remembered was the storm, the waves, the ship lurching -- he hasn’t secured himself on time.

“You were swept overboard,” Felix whispers, and he can’t stop the tears from falling as he speaks. He makes no effort to stop them, however; the ship deck is still centimetres deep in salt water, so what’s a few more drops of his own? “We thought we lost you…”

“Thank every god there is that Hyunjin joined our crew when they did, or else I fear we may indeed have  _ really _ lost you,” Minho emphasised, squeezing Hyunjin’s shoulder as he speaks. Hyunjin shrugs in response, their tail flicking about in the water beneath them, having not shifted into their human-passing form since making it back aboard with an unconscious Chan in their arms. 

“Hyunjin…” Chan lifts his arm off the ground, and Jeongin, previously the person holding that hand, drops it willingly as Hyunjin leans forward and takes the proffered hand in both of their own, squeezing tightly. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“Well, I couldn’t just let you drown after you’ve let me stay aboard for so long now,” Hyunjin scratches the back of their neck in embarrassment, before their face turns mischievous once again. “A little water never hurt anybody, anyway. I wasn’t about to let you die like an  _ amateur _ .”

Chan finds the energy to snort, and then Jeongin has his hands behind Chan’s head, helping him sit up, slowly, slowly. 

“You coughed up the water within your chest once Hyunjin got you back onboard, but then you didn’t wake up for a good few hours,” Seungmin supplies as Changbin helps Jeongin with the task of getting Chan back onto his feet. “The storm stopped after an hour or so, obviously. Hyunjin did a good job of keeping you mostly above water whilst it went on.” The pilot sends the siren a fleeting glance, and Hyunjin pretends not to notice.

“Explain everything later. Chan needs to  _ recover _ , now,” Changbin says, and with Jeongin’s help they slowly make their journey over the deck and into Chan’s cabin, where his own hard mattress away from the rest of the crew’s hammocks are.

“But the ship-” Chan tries weakly, but Jisung shushes him across the deck.

“We’ve got everything under control, thanks to you saving us before yourself. Get some rest and recover so that we can finally make it to this damned island,” he reprimands, and for once, Chan lets himself be taken care of, relaxing once he makes it onto his bed and letting Changbin manhandle him into a change of dry clothes, Jeongin leaving to give them some privacy before Changbin helps Chan, dry and comfortable, back onto his bed and pulls his thin blanket over him like a shield.

“You’re safe now,” Changbin whispers, and runs a hand through Chan’s hair, leaning close to his captain’s side, letting his body radiate what he hopes is comforting warmth towards the elder as he slowly succumbs back to sleep. 

“We’ve got you. And we’ll all be right here when you wake up, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading, I hope I still have some readers left after leaving this hanging for a couple months. If you made it here, thank you!
> 
> kudos and comments make my day <3
> 
> twt: roseseungs  
> tumblr: rosepetalsandrain


	8. chapter eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Felix has a point,” Chan points out. “Life or death, we have to go back in there whether we like it or not. Sooner rather than later.”
> 
> “Today?” Jisung suggests. “It’s summer. We have hours of daylight left.” 
> 
> “We should wait until tomorrow,” Seungmin frets, but Jeongin shakes his head. 
> 
> “No, even just waiting for one night could leave us exposed to the Reds if they approach in the darkness.”
> 
> “So we leave now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're back again with another chapter! finally we're at the plot's original Big Point, although it's not at its climax just yet: the crew's mission purpose! a lot goes on in this chapter, so i hope you all like it! happy reading <3

“Land!” Jisung shouts, and the entire ship springs back into action; from calm and cruising along the waters to full speed ahead within the click of two fingers.

It has been six days since the fateful storm that almost lost the ship their captain, and the beating sun has long since dried out the deck, restoring it to its usual, non-slippery self. Chan has rested, too, under the watchful eye of Changbin and Jeongin, and to their satisfaction is back to normal; tending to his duties as if nothing has happened.

For now, everything is okay.

The island is vast; spreads out as far as the eye can see, but isn’t big enough to be labelled a country, Jisung guesses (with his limited knowledge on the subject). It’s the stereotype of what most people may think when they hear the word _island_ : sand for miles, greenery and tropical nature inhabiting it as well as the odd bird and bee. 

Here, the foliage is thick enough to hide much of the island from view, but the crew can just about make out two opaque lines of grey making their way into the air, mingling with the clouds. 

“Volcanoes,” Felix supplies as a confused Jisung points them out. “If they’re smoking already, they’re probably close to eruption.”

Heavy silence settles on the boat, as if the weight of what they’re about to do has _really_ begun to set in. This is definitely a fatal mission if things go wrong; it’s very likely that they could indeed die on this island. 

“Well! In that case, we’d better start planning so we can get to work,” Seungmin claps and looks around brightly. “The sooner we’re off this island, the sooner we’re away from active volcanoes!” 

“Optimism!” Felix snorted, holding his hand up for a high five, the resounding _smack_ shaking everybody out of their own silences a little. “What’s the plan, Captain?” 

“We need water first. We’re running low on our drinkable stores and obviously, we can’t drink seawater.” 

“We’re running low?” Minho blinks rapidly. “I thought we had a few barrels left.” 

“We have two left, but it’ll likely only last a few days at most.” Changbin surveys the island, shuffling about on the sand. “There are trees growing here, so there’ll likely be a water source somewhere… we just have to find where it is.”

“I’ll help,” Felix offers, and Seungmin, Chan and Hyunjin join him instantly. 

“Okay, so Minho, Seungmin, Jisung and Jeongin: you stay here and look for a food source too. Jeongin has good knowledge of what’s poisonous and what’s not, so if you’re unsure, ask him.” 

With that, the crew splits up; the formers venturing further into the island, braving the foliage and bushes, and the latters staying by the shoreline to explore the first lines of trees for fruit. 

“This is so cool, I’ve never really been on an island before,” Hyunjin clutches the thin satchel containing the rock close to their hip as they walk through the thickening trees. “I had no idea there were so many _trees_.” 

“That’s so different,” Felix brushes a branch out of the way of his face and side-steps a strange looking bug as it threatens to brush past his cheek, “I’d never thought of it that way. Have you ever spent much time on land before now?”

“Not at all… this is my first time on land that isn’t just shoreside rocks, full stop. It’s so _strange_.” 

“Well then... welcome to human normality!” 

Hyunjin beams, still not stopping in their rapid movements of looking around; up, down, side to side, taking in everything they possibly could. “It’s so full of life… I never considered that life on land was just as full of everything as the ocean is.”

“We have everything! Apart from fish,” Chan says. “No fish on land.”

“Or sirens,” Seungmin adds. “There’s only one siren on land now.” 

They’re deep into the forest-like parts of the island by now; a good forty-minute walk that Felix guesses has them right in the centre of it all. It’s hard to see the sky from all the leaves and branches stretching up overhead, and the sound of the sea is drowned out by the incessant noise of crickets, birds and creaking branches, not to mention rustling leaves as the wind tickles them from their respective trees. It’s swelteringly hot, and the air feels thick; nothing like the easy breathing that goes on at sea where there are no trees to emit humidity and soak up the constant sea breeze before it could reach a human being. 

“The air feels wet,” Hyunjin complains suddenly. “Does this mean we’re close to water?” 

Seungmin opens his mouth to answer, but a loud bellow to their right makes everybody freeze in shock; Chan freezing mid-step and Felix almost toppling over in fright. 

Standing right in their wake, is the largest orangutan Felix has ever seen- and the rest of the group haven’t ever come across one in their entire lives, so it’s rightly even more terrifying for them. The animal easily towers over Felix; and his limited knowledge of the animal supplies him with the ability to name the large disc-like flaps on its face as flanges; telling him that it it is indeed a male, and so will definitely try to fight, if not _kill_ them, in order to protect his pack. 

“Shit,” Felix manages to choke out. “It’s an orangutan.”

“An _oranga-what_?” Hyunjin shrieks, and all four of them scatter as the great animal takes a few steps forwards, up on both back legs, arms out wide; challenging. 

“No time to explain. It wants to kill us in order to defend his pack.” 

“ _Shit,”_ the siren curses, and as if it were planned, the group turns heel and _sprints_ , putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the great orangutan that was _definitely_ giving chase, if the thunderous crashes behind them were of any indication. 

“There’s more of them,” Chan looks over his shoulder desperately as everybody tried to dodge the roots that lay purposely thick on the ground as if they’re trying to trip them up, and almost trips over his own feet at the sight of the single orangutan having _multiplied_ into several, and there were only more joining; huge monkeys swinging down from trees seemingly out of nowhere to give chase to the four boys that were already so tragically outnumbered. 

Felix looks behind him too, and bursts out laughing at the absurdity of the situation. “It’s like Temple Run,” he cries, and in the heat of the moment, nobody questions him.

Foot after foot, one in front of the other, dodge the tree roots, jump over the smallest bushes and run around the tallest trees; _why is this island so large?_ The group feel as though they’ve been running for ten minutes already, yet the animals simply won’t give up, seeming determined to at least run them off the island- if not end them altogether. Are orangutans carnivorous? Felix has no idea, and he _doesn’t_ want to find out. 

A helpless yell sounds from somewhere to Seungmin’s right side, and he glances to the side to find Hyunjin tripping up, falling in slow motion to the ground where the skin on their hands bursts painfully open upon impact and they cry out in pain. 

“Hyunjin, quick,” Seungmin spins around, nearly slipping over himself in his haste to turn around from his full-sprint forwards, and pulls the siren to their feet roughly. “They’re gaining on us, quick-”

Hyunjin shakes Seungmin’s hand away in favour of starting up running again, and for a second Seungmin, Felix and Chan are relieved; the sea has just about come into view; they can make out the ship if they squint, and they’re so _close-_

The satchel around Hyunjin’s body holding the rock catches on a tree branch and rips open, having imperceptibly gotten caught when Hyunjin fell down, and the rock falls to the ground, bouncing once, twice. 

The sight catches Felix’s eyes and he, too, cries out, “WAIT!”, but it’s too late, nobody else noticed, there’s too much space between Hyunjin and the rock and- 

An orangutan stops. 

The entire pack stops, after them, and in eerie silence they all look at the rock on the ground. Felix, Chan, Seungmin and Hyunjin stop, too, and can only stare in horror as the leader of the pack- the one that had cornered the group originally, takes heavy steps forwards; bends down to get a better look. 

Hyunjin tries to run forward and grab the rock off the ground, but it’s too late, the towering animal already has a hold of it, and- just when they thought things couldn’t get any worse-

Instantly they can hear the sea turn into a mess of screams, distant lulling singing and churning waves, the sky grows dark as if the clouds are here to accommodate the sea’s temper tantrum, and the orangutan has the rock in a vice grip, none of the treasure visible through its thick skin and long hair. 

“Oh my god, what do we _do_ ?” Hyunjin shrieks, panic overtaking them all; they’re cornered from both sides, and have no member of the crew who’ll stay sane enough under the other sirens’ influences to be able to get _anybody_ out of this alive. 

“Seungmin, Hyunjin, go and help with the crew on the beach, they’re powerless against the rest of the sirens,” Chan orders thinking quickly, “and Felix, stay here with me. Use your pistol. Quickly.”

Hyunjin and Seungmin nod, wide-eyed, and sprint towards the shore, and Felix’s eyes blow huge in shock. “I can’t kill them-”

“Not kill. Aim at them enough to shock the leader into dropping the rock,” Chan’s words are spoken so fast they’re hard to differentiate, “and then grab the rock and go. A human holding it will make no difference at this point. Then _run_.” 

Whipping out his own gun from his belt, Chan takes aim; fires multiple shots at a tree branch directly above the majority of the orangutans, and the sound of the shots alone are enough to momentarily disorientate them, before a branch falls right down upon the front line of them and a lot of the animals jump back in shock. Felix takes the momentary distraction as a chance to fire one shot at the orangutan’s foot; another at the tree trunk directly next to his head, and thanks to his impeccable aim as well as his immense relief, he doesn’t hit the animal; but it is indeed shocked enough to jump back, dropping the rock. 

“Go, Felix, go!” Chan continues firing shots at the ground in between them and the orangutans, and their fear of the bullets gives Felix time to dart forward, having to dive onto the ground and scraping his chin as he slides across the dusty forest floor and retrieves the rock before jumping to his feet, narrowly dodging a huge hand coming out to grab at him, and yelling out as the orangutan grasps his hair instead. It’s not enough to stop him from escaping but enough to pull out a painful amount from his scalp. 

“ _Fuck,_ ” is what he settles for saying instead as he catches up to Chan, who was waiting on one foot for him, legs poised to start sprinting again. 

A gargantuan roar resounds from behind them, but once the orangutans catch sight of the sea and sirens invading the shore and ship that’s docked there, they stop directly in their tracks and back away into the forest, as if pressed back with an invisible force. 

But there’s no time for relief; they’re now faced with a bigger problem, bigger than the throbbing pain in the back of Felix’s head; bigger than their avoided issue of escaping near-death with the orangutans. 

“We couldn’t have just got out of this one easily, could we?” Chan deadpans as they survey the scene, deciding to first sprint for their crewmates before saving the ship. Their vessel, they can replicate and replace; they cannot replace any of their crew. 

With no scrap metal to reflexively disgust the affected crew out of their stupors, Seungmin and Hyunjin have managed to crowd the four affected boys into a pile of limbs next to the makeshift fire they must have started, fending off every siren that comes their way in an attempt to drag them into the water. With legs, they’re all hugely faster and more agile, and even though the comical sight of tens upon tens of naked human bodies climbing out of the sea, out for human blood, is surprising - it's not enough to shake any of them. 

Instantly, with their proximity, the two boys fresh out of the forest begin to feel dizzy, fighting with everything they have against the sirens’ songs, but with hundreds of sirens, and only two of them, the feat is impossible, though Felix has the foresight and self control to tuck the rock back into his pocket before he’s completely taken over; hand dropping by his side and eyes glazing over immediately afterwards as Chan follows suit, blindly walking towards the sirens. 

“Not _again_ ,”Seungmin groans, yet he’s thankful that most of the sirens are concentrated around their general area; at least it’s drawing their last two crewmates over to them, like a magnet, instead of away from his and Hyunjin’s protection. 

“You- sit _here._ ” In any other situation, it would be funny, how the youngest coherent crew member grabs both his captain and crewmate by the arms and yanks them down onto the sand behind him. “Don’t move.” 

“Why are there so many?” Hyunjin pants, pushes their hair out of their face as both they and Seungmin scan both the churning sea- their ship is almost capsizing on the shore _alone_ \- and behind them, their crewmates are dangerously close to the flames of the small woodfire they had created, just half an hour before disaster broke out. 

_Fire._

“Jinnie,” Seungmin shouts over the noise, and Hyunjin’s head whips around to stare at him- the nickname is a new one. “Fire.”

“What about it?” Hyunjin kicks out at countless new sirens, and sends them sprawling to the ground. 

“It’s the opposite of water…”

Hyunjin’s eyes light up. “You don’t mean-”

“Yes,” Seungmin emphasises. “That’s exactly what I mean.” He looks around frantically; finds one thicker branch just a few feet away, abandoned on the sand. “Cover me for a second.” He sprints with as much speed as he can muster, grabs the branch, runs back to the fire and sets it alight. Thanks to the heat before the sky had clouded over like a winter storm, the branch is drier than needed to quickly catch fire, and goes up in flames within seconds. 

“I saw Felix put the rock in his pocket,” Seungmin yells, “So get it. Quickly.” And with that, he darts forward, waving the flaming branch at any sirens daring to get close- and thank _goodness_ it has the desired effect. 

Fire is the opposite of water; a siren’s natural habitat, so of course it would repel them. 

The air fills with screams and ear-grating shrieks instead of songs as the sirens realise what’s going on, and they cower back, back-stepping back to the sea with every step forward Seungmin takes with the branch. The contrasting noises are equivalent to the squirm-worthy sound of nails on a chalkboard and snatches everybody else back to reality, and they leap to their feet in panic, seeing Seungmin single-handedly fending off now-hundreds of sirens with a single flaming tree branch. 

“Quick, help him,” Chan yells, and everybody grabs a branch too, holding them to the fire before sprinting to Seungmin’s side with them, forming a barrier between the sirens and Hyunjin and Felix, as Felix aids Hyunjin in disentangling the fabric of his pocket from the rock and Hyunjin _finally_ is able to twist the rock back into place- the beach falls deathly silent.

The sea stops its violent churning almost instantly, and the clouds start to evaporate, just like the first time they’d done this; the sirens retreat with more coherence back into the sea, sending lasting hisses and glares at the pirates fending them off with fire.

“ _Traitor,_ ” one hisses particularly angrily at Hyunjin, who flinches as they clutch the rock close to their chest. Felix rubs their arm comfortingly as the last few sirens slink back into the ocean; turning their legs back into their long, graceful tails and disappearing from view, as if they were never there in the first place.

The only telltale sign that anything _had_ happened at all was the way their ship continued to rock, regaining its balance in the water after such a rough turn of events. Felix sighs in relief as his legs crumple beneath him, all adrenaline leaving his body at once; his head throbbing and slick with what he presumes is sweat. Hyunjin retrieves the ruined satchel from where it still hangs over their shoulder; wraps the rock in the material and sets it down on the sand before following suit. 

“ _Wow._ ” The rest of the crew throw their flaming branches into the sea to safely extinguish them, and Seungmin cradles his hands; fingers burning painfully hot where the flames had crept too high up his branch. Jeongin sees and approaches him, taking his hand within both of his own and inspecting it closely. 

“I have a salve for that,” he smiles, and Seungmin relaxes a little. “We’ll treat it now.”

“Everybody back aboard,’ Chan orders, deciding that their ship is _indefinitely_ safer than the island at any rate. “We’ll recover there for a few hours.”

***

“We have to get back into the island,” Felix reasons, his voice cutting above everybody else’s as the crew debates their next move. “We already know the Reds are on our tail and know where we are; we need to get rid of the rock before they can get their hands on it. It’s a death trap.”

“Going back _into_ the island is a deathtrap,” Changbin cuts in, scowling. “We _all_ nearly died the first time.” 

Felix winces, hand coming up to caress the back of his head where the orangutan had ripped his hair out- it turned out that he had bled quite a bit from it, but Jeongin patched him back up gently, and the hair could grow back soon; the gap thankfully not big enough to leave a visible bald spot but enough to wrench at Felix entire head painfully. 

“Felix has a point,” Chan points out. “Life or death, we have to go back in there whether we like it or not. Sooner rather than later.”

“Today?” Jisung suggests. “It’s summer. We have _hours_ of daylight left.” 

“We should wait until tomorrow,” Seungmin frets, but Jeongin shakes his head. 

“No, even just waiting for one night could leave us exposed to the Reds if they approach in the darkness.”

“So we leave now,” Minho stands up, and everybody protests, pulling him back down. 

“We have to have some sort of _plan_ before just... _leaving_ like that,” Hyunjin rolls their eyes. “We need some sort of guideline.” 

“We have the map here,” Felix waves it in the air, “so we know roughly where to go. Jisung said we’re here?”- he points at a point at the edge of the island marked out on the map, and Jisung nods- “so we need to go _here,_ and then through _this_ part here, and then around _there_ to get to where the rock can be buried for good.” He pushes his hair out of his face, and laughs. “Simple.” It’s really not. 

Everybody leans in over the table, a mess of eight heads crowding over a few scrolls of parchment, and there are collective remarks on how the island is supposedly laid out. It looks like something out of the fantasy fairytales Felix used to read as a child: as far from realistic as possible and full of traps; chances for injury or even death. The map shows a forest of apes (or orangutans, like they’d seen before- they could only _hope_ there aren’t apes too) as well as some sort of rock wall that gave way to a plummeting cliff face, held together only by a thin, frail rope bridge (Felix had to roll his eyes at that- in 2019 that idea was so _cliche)_ as well as three volcanoes- at least one of which was clearly active right this very second- among many other dangers and threats. Why is the only straightforward path to where they could dispose of the treasure full of deathly possibilities?

“Looks like a death trap to me,” Changbin muses, before throwing one hand in the air. “I’ll join.”

“We need at least two people here to guard the ship, in case the Reds make it here before we make it back,” Chan supplies, and chooses Jeongin and Minho to stay; it makes the most sense to have their medic onboard to help everybody as soon as they return, and Minho, who has amazing archery skills and is nimble, to help the younger pirate fend off enemies if they do encounter any. They ultimately need the bulk of the crew to go back on-land, though, in order to maximise fighting skills against any more native animals and to help everybody along. 

“Wait, before you go,” Jeongin stands, scrapes back his chair. “Felix, come and help me get some things for you all to take in case you get injured.” 

Felix stands and joins the youngest in going to the medical bay without question, and once the two are alone the air hangs heavy with an unspoken tension. Neither of them know how to address it, really, so they stay silent as Jeongin gathers tiny vials into a bag and Felix stands silently to the side; observing, watching, memorising. 

So many words need to be said, yet none come out at all. 

“Here,” Jeongin tied the bag around Felix’s torso; the straps going over one shoulder and under the other securely as he knots the material in front of Felix’s chest securely, not making eye contact, “these are for healing minor injuries. They’re the best for wounds and burns, and you just rub it on the affected area, usually twice a day… hopefully you’ll all be back before a day has passed, though. Hopefully there’ll be no need to apply them at all...” 

He finishes tying the knot with a grimace, and doesn’t step back as he looks up this time, his eyes locking with Felix’s and he feels robbed of breath; speechless. The elder is looking at him with such intensity, they’re so close together; they can both _feel_ the tension in the air about to snap-

“We should probably head back out,” Felix breaks the tense silence, reluctantly. Gesturing to the deck above, where they can faintly make out the sounds of the rest of the crew, he offers the medic a sad half-smile. “The sooner we get out there, the sooner we can return, and all of that.”

“Yeah,” Jeongin replies, and even to him, his voice sounds thin; far away. Like the reality of just how dangerous this trip _is_ has just hit him. “The sooner you can come back.” _To me._

The two speed walk back up to Chan’s office to find the crew members who are leaving, already equipped with satchels of supplies; mostly food and water since Felix has the medicine, and Hyunjin has the treasure. _The bare essentials for survival on a death trip with uncertain outcomes_ , Felix thinks grimly. 

“No time like the present,” Jisung announces merrily, and is the first one off the ship again, leaping ashore with a loud whoop. Chan shakes his head in exasperation, and mutters something about excess energy and adrenaline already hitting. 

Chan himself leaves next, then Hyunjin, Changbin, Seungmin, and lastly, Felix is left onboard; but something within him isn’t letting him leave, not just yet. Maybe in a second… his heart is telling him to do one more thing before he leaves. 

He spins around, and finds the person he was thinking about right behind him, as if he had the same idea as the elder, and Felix wastes no time in grabbing Jeongin’s arms, holding him tight, maybe for the first and last time. 

Jeongin’s eyes are screwed closed, but he forces them open to study Felix’s face one more time, eyes containing all the things they’d had building up between them since Felix joined the crew but they’d never vocalised; never acted on, and perhaps would never have a chance to act upon after this trip. It was uncertain who, if anyone, would actually come back alive, if things went badly. 

Surprising even himself, Jeongin lets out a frustrated whine, high-pitched and desperate, before throwing his arms around Felix’s neck and drawing him in, pressing their lips together just once; soft and quick, before drawing back and taking in his face one last time. 

Felix had stood there, speechless the entire time, and now looks like he’s been shot with an arrow; Cupid’s arrow or a weaponised one? The answer is unsure, but Jeongin is the one who speaks. 

“Come back to me,” he whispers, before gently using his hands to free his arms from Felix’s vice grip and nudging him gently towards the gangplank, urging him to walk back onto the shore and begin before it started getting dark. 

“Wait-” Felix seems to finally spring to action, but Jeongin shushes him quietly, pointing towards their crew, waiting for the blue-haired beauty on the sand. 

“Come back to me,” Jeongin repeats, “and you can tell me everything you’re wanting to right now.” 

Felix holds eye contact, intense and burning as he rakes his eyes over Jeongin’s face a final time, “I will.” and then he’s gone, over the gangplank and onto the sand, and the group are walking towards the forests once again; disappearing within moments. 

Jeongin and Minho watch them go, helpless. 

Silence reigns supreme for a heavy minute, and then Minho snickers. 

“So~” he begins, slinging an arm around Jeongin’s neck, but the younger pushes his face into his hands in despair. 

“Don’t.” 

****

“Hey, let’s discuss what I just saw going down back there,” Jisung bounds up to Felix, hyperactive and ready for secrets. 

“How about we don’t do that!” Felix laughs, dragging a face down his face. “I don’t wanna think about it just now.” 

“If you ever do want to talk about it…” Jisung trails off, and Felix looks at him to find him wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. 

“No. But hey, you and _Minho,_ ” Felix digs his fingers into Jisung’s side, making him squeal with laughter, “that’s something _I’d_ like to discuss.” 

“Nope!” Jisung is quick to shoot down the suggestion, and Felix smiles, satisfied. _Checkmate._

“Maybe if we get out of here alive you can _also_ act on your feelings.”

“Or I could _not!”_ Jisung is adamant, and it makes Felix chuckle, feeling the fear of his surroundings disapitate quickly. 

“You two are _loud,_ ” Hyunjin comments. “Let me join.”

“Are we the only sane ones here?” Seungmin asks Changbin and Chan, as the other three start cackling with each other. 

“You might be,” Changbin is quick to dip and join the hyperactive trio, and soon his own laughter is trickling up towards the tree-covered sky along with everyone else’s. Seungmin chuckles to himself and walks alongside Chan in comfortable silence.

“Hey, Chan?” he starts, licks his lips nervously. “Do _you_ think we’ll all make it out of here alive?”

“Maybe,” Chan says grimly, not one to mask realism. “Depends on whether the Reds show up or not.”

“We should have left more than just Jeongin and Minho onboard,” sudden fear makes Seungmin’s body turn cold, goosebumps prickling at his neck. “The entire Reds crew against two of ours? They won’t stand a chance.”

“Let’s not consider that right now, we’re too far in to go back at this point,” Chan wraps a soothing arm around Seungmin and squeezes, the weight helping the younger think more clearly. Chan was right; they couldn’t go back now, they’d just have to hope that they’d make it in and out before the Reds inevitably caught up. And who _knew_ where they’d be up to? They could even be lost, for all the Strays knew. 

He just hopes that they’re indeed lost and not right on their trail. 

****

Soon enough the group reach the forest once more, and Chan winces as they peer into the trees, ears straining for any noises betraying the orangutans’ whereabouts. 

“Everything _seems_ clear, at least?” he tries, stepping forward in uncertainty. “Let’s just seize the moment and try to get through whilst everything’s calm.” 

Felix inhales against his racing heart’s will and is the first to enter the forest’s vicinity. “Let’s get this all over and done with.”

Jisung and Seungmin follow; Hyunjin trailing after them whilst Changbin and Chan walk behind the rest, protecting the youngsters' trails. 

“Just keep moving forward,” Jisung says, and before long he’s repeating it like a mantra; his voice being the only thing breaking the human silence within the noises of nature surrounding them. It’s both frustrating and comforting to hear; nobody knows whether they want him to stop or not. 

In the end, nobody comments. In a way, it’s already keeping them sane, and focusing on Jisung’s voice distracts them from their own doubts and thoughts so early into the trip. 

“Where are the orangutans?” Felix suddenly bursts, paranoia getting the better of him. “We’ve been in the forest for ages now and there’s no sign of them… it feels like a bad omen.” 

“Maybe they retreated somewhere else after what happened before?” Changbin offers, but his voice, too, is heavily uncertain; his eyes never stop moving from place to place for more than a second at a time. 

“Keep walking. Hopefully there’ll be no more monkey mishaps,” Chan orders, and everybody speeds up a little, feeling too flighty to even teasingly comment on his admittedly creative alliteration. 

It takes an hour or so to finally get through the suffocating mass of humidity and trees, but eerily, all animal noises are absent. It’s like the orangutans and the rest of any other animals inhabiting the forest have completely vanished into the air, which in a way is even more frightening than being attacked by them again. 

It leaves everybody feeling like the rug has been ripped from beneath their feet, and they’re unsteady; stumbling mentally like newborn deers taking their first steps. Nobody quite knows what to do; and every single person has an icy dread that the orangutan attack that took place a few hours ago was just the tip of the iceberg. 

“Oh-” Hyunjin brightens momentarily, pointing out in front of them with one finger, “Look! The forest is about to end.”

And indeed it is; light is beginning to break through the trees properly once again, which is a relief, as even though the sunlight is a deeper colour than before, it still means they have light to guide them. The sun may be setting, but they’re safe. For now. 

From there is a surprisingly pleasant walk; the scenery of the island is indeed beautiful once the threats of the forest have been stripped away and they’re somehow back onto sandy territory although they left the beach behind hours ago. Seagulls caw merrily overhead as the sun casts an orange glow on the sand, decorated with pebbles, and even the active volcano spewing out smoke on the horizon in between its fellow dormant volcanoes looks picturesque and non-threatening. 

It lulls the pirates into a false sense of security… rookie mistake. 

“Is that water?” Hyunjin’s ears prick up, and they look around, as if to find the source of what they’re hearing. “I can hear water.”

“I can’t hear a thing…?” Seungmin looks suitably confused, as does the rest of the human entourage as Hyunjin grabs the map from Jisung’s hands and stares at it. 

“There!” they point triumphantly at a spot, conveniently in their path. “A river.” 

“You have amazing hearing,” Chan laughs. “Lead the way.”

There’s no river in sight until a few minutes later, when the group slowly begin to hear the water running, too, and voice their hearing in varying degrees of pride. 

“Oh, my goodness,” Changbin gasps, horrified, as the source of the noise finally comes into view.

This is no watering hole, lake or even river: these are _rapids_ , and there’s no way they can make it across, even on a raft or something above water. It would surely tear them all apart in seconds. The width is about the length of two humans laying down, length-to-length, and on either side of the group, it stretches on as far as the eye can see. This is reinforced by the map: apparently it runs throughout the whole island. There’s no escaping it, or going _around_ it. They’ve got to get through it somehow… but _how_ is exactly the question! 

“How in the _world_ are we supposed to get through this,” Felix says flatly, and though he’s certainly no quitter, he sees no possible positive outcome of trying to brave these rapids at all. 

“I mean…” Hyunjin approaches the waters first, dipping their hand into the icy water to test the force of the currents. “It’s not so bad… I mean, I’ve faced worse currents at sea before.”

“ _That’s_ not bad?” Jisung is incredulous, and Hyunjin shrugs nonchalantly. “Then how are the rest of us going to get through?”

“I was getting to that,” Hyunjin shakes their hair over their shoulder nervously, “I could always… try to get you guys across, one by one? It would probably take a while, but it might work.”

“That’s certainly our only option,” Chan agrees, assessing the waters as best he can himself. “Hyunjin, are you sure you can do this?”

“We don’t really have a choice,” Hyunjin lets out a small laugh, nervous. “I’d want to start with whoever’s lightest, to test the waters… but, yes. I’m sure I can do it. I’ve not survived all these years as a siren in some of the most dangerous currents of the sea for nothing; I’m sure this will be fine.” 

“As long as you’re sure…” Chan surveys the group, and nods to Jisung. “Jisung’s the smallest, so I’m guessing he’s lightest, so if you’re okay with it, Ji, would you want to go first?” 

“Sure,” Jisung agrees easily, “get it done with. I can dry off in the sun whilst you guys follow.” 

“Fine,” Hyunjin moves to sit on the edge of the rapids, and dips their legs into the water, feeling the pull already threatening to sweep them into its depths already. “I’m just wondering whether it’ll be easier to change into my siren form for this or not…” 

“If you think that’ll make things easier, then definitely,” Seungmin advises. “You’re used to your tail getting you through the currents, right? Then go with your instincts.” 

Hyunjin offers a half-smile at that, and blushes. “I’ll- erm. If I’m gonna shift, I’ll have to take these off…” they gesture to their trousers, and everybody turns their backs to them in perfect sync, allowing them privacy to change and shift. 

It takes only seconds before Hyunjin calls them all back again, fully shifted and in the water already. The current running beneath the crystal liquid makes for completely obscuring the siren’s tail, and Seungmin feels a twinge of disappointment, secretly having hoped to glimpse it in all it’s glory once more. 

“Jisung,” Hyunjin beckons for their lookout, and holds their arms out. Jisung sits on the edge of the rapids just as Hyunjin had before him, and exclaims at how strong the waters are already. 

“How is just your tail keeping you from being swept away?” he yells, and Hyunjin shrugs modestly. 

“Experience,” is all they say back, and Jisung nods, letting the siren pull him into their arms and consequently into the cold water, too. 

“I’ve got you. Close your eyes and don’t breathe until you’re on the other side,” is all Hyunjin says before Jisung sucks in a huge breath of air and the two disappear below the surface, completely obscured by the currents until the group see two heads break the surface a few moments later; completely unharmed, much to everybody’s relief. Hyunjin aids Jisung in getting back out of the water, and the latter lays on his back, gasping in huge gulps of air to catch his breath as Hyunjin disappears again before returning to the other side of the water. 

“All good,” is all they say, and Changbin nods. 

“I’ll go next,” he says; everybody having silently agreed that going by weight won’t do anything to aid Hyunjin if they’ve made one trip just fine. Changbin’s muscles will definitely make him heavier than Jisung, but it’s probably better to get him across before Hyunjin’s energy starts to wane.

Once Changbin has been deposited on the other side of the river too, next to Jisung, the two sit up together, propped up on their elbows as they watch the rest of their crewmates be transported across the river by Hyunjin. 

“It’s quite funny, really,” Changbin cackles, “they go in all dry and collected and come back out looking like seals.” 

“Oh no, you’re _right_ ,” Jisung squeals, and giggles, high-pitched and free. “They really do look like seals, all flat from the water and dripping wet.” 

“Hello, fellow seal!” Changbin sings as Felix comes across next, tossing his hair out of his eyes and heaving in a fresh breath of blissful oxygen. 

“A _blue_ seal!” Jisung gasps delightedly, and Felix laughs too, completely confused but doing his best seal impression regardless, clapping his hands and making seal noises, much to his friends’ delight. 

“Aye, here comes Seungmin,” Jisung breaks the humour to observe, “now _there’s_ sexual tension if I’ve ever seen it. Or lack of it. Romantic tension. Asexual tension.”

“Focus on your own romantic interests,” Felix giggles, hitting his arm playfully. “Need I remind you of who’s waiting for you when we get back to the ship?”

“Utter one more word and I’ll remind you of who’s waiting for _you_ back on the ship,” Jisung quips back, hitting back just as playfully. Changbin rolls his eyes. 

“That was so strange,” is the first thing out of Seungmin’s mouth once Hyunjin has swam back to Chan; the last member of their group to be transported. “Like the currents just stopped underwater.” He takes his shirt off and wrings it out, using the damp cloth to dry his prosthetic leg as best he can - the last thing he wants at a time like this is added painful chafing, or even worse, rust.

“Right?” Felix agrees. “I think Hyunjin must have swum to the bottom of the riverbed, or something, and the currents must have stopped there, or something similar. Either way, they’re unbelievably strong.”

“You got that right,” Changbin raises a toned arm in harmony. “I definitely couldn’t have done that, and I’m _way_ more toned than they are. Sirens must have superpowers, I swear.”

“Everybody okay?” Chan interrupts their discussion as he, too, climbs out of the rapids: everybody safe and sound on the other side by now. Hyunjin heaves themself out of the water, too, and Seungmin hands them the trousers they’d had to discard earlier; everybody turns in habit to give them privacy to change again. 

“We need to find somewhere to rest,” Chan announces. “Hyunjin will be exhausted after that.”

“I’m fine,” they yell over everybody’s turned backs, halfway through putting their trousers back on: the fatigue is clearly evident in their voice, however, a clear oxymoron to their words. “We can keep going.”

“Hmm, I’m not convinced.”

“Is anyone else tired?” Seungmin asks, and everybody shakes their head; nobody is feeling tired just yet despite the long day they’re already had. Truth be told, they just want to finish this job and get back to Minho and Jeongin. 

“Ok, so I piggyback Hyunjin so they can rest and we all carry on for a while longer. Best of both worlds,” Seungmin’s tone leaves no room for disagreement as five heads snap up to stare at him. 

“You’d actually carry me?” Hyunjin’s voice is a lot closer now, a sure sign that they’re done changing and have walked over. Seungmin turns around to meet their eyes, sure in their decision. 

“You carried five of us through rapid currents, and then swam back an additional five times. I’m sure I can handle carrying you again.”

“Well, I won’t be one to refuse such an offer, by any means,” Hyunjin teases, and the rest of the crew relax again. 

“As long as Seungmin’s okay with that, then I don’t have a problem either. Although, once it gets dark, we’ll definitely have to find somewhere to set up camp. This island is too dangerous to venture about in the dark,” Chan decides, clasping his hands together with an air of authority. 

Hyunjin slinks their body onto Seungmin’s back, not bothering to jump as they simply wrap their arms around his neck from behind and let Seungmin do the work instead. Seungmin bends over so Hyunjin’s feet are lifted from the ground and grabs onto their thighs, hooking his elbows under their knees to hold them in place and choosing not to mention how he can feel them trembling from the exertion of their swimming. All Seungmin does in comfort is tighten his grip slightly on the worn-out siren’s legs as Hyunjin all but flops against Seungmin’s back, arms limp and head hooked over his shoulder. 

“Let’s go.” 

Once the group starts walking again, it takes what feels like only a few minutes for it to start getting dark, and before Seungmin can mentally count to sixty, he can feel Hyunjin’s breathing even out, steady puffs of warmth against his neck as they fall into a light slumber. He tries to walk as lightly as possible, so as to not disturb or jolt them. 

“It’s getting really dark, we’ll have to stop somewhere around here,” Chan breaks the comfortable silence that had fallen over the island like a security blanket. There are caves dotted about the island at this point: dark caverns of mystery and possible danger, but all is quiet, so Changbin ventures into one to find it completely empty, save for some littered sticks and pebbles on the sandy floor. 

“It’s safe, I think,” he confirms, and everybody piles into the rocky interior, mumbling words and groans of approval at the chance to finally sit and rest their aching bones. Sighs fill the air, and joints finally settle, relaxing after hours upon hours of tensing and exertion. 

Seungmin takes care to kneel down slowly, ignoring the way his thigh muscles scream and threaten to buckle under his and Hyunjin’s combined weight, and gently places the sleeping siren on the ground before finally sitting down next to them. Changbin eyes the way that Hyunjin immediately searches out bodily warmth in their sleep once disconnected from Seungmin and reattaches themselves to the same boy, who does nothing to fight it, but he stays silent for now. 

Interesting. 

“Everyone can sleep. I’ll keep watch for a few hours…” Chan stifles a yawn. “We all know I won’t be able to sleep for a while anyway.”

“I’ll stay up with you,” Felix chooses to shuffle over to their captain on his butt, not wanting to walk a single step more than he already had today. “Get some rest, everybody!” 

Chan snorts loudly at Felix trying to take over as leader a little, and pats his blue locks as Felix settles down next to him with a brotherly air. From the mouth of the cave, the night sky is visible; clear as crystal, and the stars are shining along with a crescent moon. A clear sky always makes way for a clear mind. 

“Did you know there are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand in the entire world?” Chan whispers, and Felix leans into his shoulder, eyes already slipping half-closed, a telltale sign that he’ll be falling asleep way before Chan even attempts to. 

“More than sand? But there’s got to be billions of _billions_ of sand grains in the world…” Felix draws a sleepy circle in the sand with his finger, visible in the cool light that the moon lends them. “So many stars.”

“Do you know any constellations?” 

“Nope,” Felix yawns, “I know the names of some but I’ve no idea where they are.” Not to mention that without the future light pollution, the current sky is _teeming_ with more stars than Felix ever thought possible to view with the naked eye. It’s breathtaking.

Chan wraps an arm around the younger’s shoulders as he tips his head back, and uses his free arm to point out each constellation he knows in hushed tones. Along with constellations are simply lights that look like brighter, bigger stars upon first glance, but in reality are other planets: Mars, Venus, Mercury, perfectly visible in the sky if only you know where to look for them.

“My mother used to call me Sky,” Seungmin mumbles sleepily and unhooks his prosthetic from his body, laying it down beside him as he listens to Chan and Felix talk about the night sky; the words more directed at the air than anybody in particular, he’s too close to sleep to raise his voice. Hyunjin, however, stirs awake at his words and, in their sleepy daze, snuggles closer. If Seungmin had been any more awake he would push them away, but the comfortable haze of half-asleep fog has him blissed out and uncaring. 

“‘S a pretty name,” Hyunjin traces Seungmin’s jaw with a barely-there touch. “Suits you… my pretty sky.” 

“Mmh… Seungmin rolls over onto his side, using his folded arms as a pillow and unintentionally dislodging the sleepy siren. “Sleep…”

“Sleep,” Hyunjin repeats. “Sleep time.” Changbin snorts a little way away.

“That one is Venus,” Chan points to a particularly bright star, almost obscured by the forest’s silhouette miles away, “and Mercury, that one right there.” 

“So pretty,” Felix slurs, and his head falls forward suddenly. Chan chuckles; gently presses the younger’s head back until Felix is leaning against him rather than leaving his neck to feel wrecked in the morning. 

“Night, Lix.” 

The night progresses quickly; the stars pass over the cave and the rest of the island whilst Chan keeps a watchful eye out for any animals or beings that might potentially attack. Fortunately for the group, the caves here are surrounded by land that is quite barren; there’s no need for animals to venture out this far where there are hardly any plants to eat or take shelter in, or underneath. It passes without harm or further catastrophe, and as the sun begins to rise, Chan’s eyelids finally grow heavy; he lays down slowly, careful of the sleeping boy still cradled against his shoulder, and lets himself drift off into a peaceful slumber, joining everybody else in dreamland. 

***

Hyunjin is the first to awaken, a couple of hours after Chan first falls asleep. They stretch their legs out first, wincing to find the muscles stiff and aching after yesterday’s swimming through the rapids and not being able to stretch their tail out afterwards. Though they shifted back to a human form, the muscles are the same, and these muscles now _hurt_. 

Realising for the first time ever that they’re actually positioned on another being, Hyunjin gasps silently, and turns their head to find Seungmin beneath them, lips slightly parted as he breathes quietly in his sleep; cheeks puffy from slumber. His eyes move quickly beneath his closed eyelids; a sign that he’s definitely dreaming, and Hyunjin takes this as their cue to sit up from where they’d had their head resting on Seungmin’s chest, deeming him asleep enough to not react to their movement. 

If Hyunjin keeps their hands tangled together, though, that’s nobody’s business but their own. Physical comfort is their excuse. 

The sun has already risen, and the air feels fresh; renewed by the reviving scent of a new day blossoming right before their eyes. Adventure is calling, and the group will answer… once everybody is awake.

Sirens awake victoriously early to begin with; even earlier than most humans, but back aboard their ship, Hyunjin would keep Minho company as he watched the sunrise, and sometimes they would even sing to him as they watched the sun peer out from its salty cocoon early in the morning, a song of friendship and comfort. With Minho back on the ship, Hyunjin has nobody to keep them company whilst they watch the sun rise from the forest - but it’s no less beautiful, even if they’ve awoken after it’s risen.

They hope that, if Minho is awake now, he’s not feeling the loss as sorely as Hyunjin is.

Seagulls have risen to attention hours ago, and cry out just as loud as ever as they fly overhead, looking for abandoned shells to pick up and drop on the sand to break open. Hyunjin chuckles to themself as they watch the birds go, knowing they’ll find no shells this far from the beach to make a meal out of. 

Jisung is the next person to wake, and sits up, wasting no time in scanning the cave for anybody else who’s awoken too. His eyes light up in delight as he spots that Hyunjin is awake, and scoots over to the siren, immediately (and intentionally) toppling over to the side and pillowing his head in their lap to watch the sky. Hyunjin likes this; a peaceful feeling before the chaos of the day begins, and they rake their spare hand through Jisung’s hair to wake him up a little. 

“Did you sleep okay?” Jisung’s voice is slightly hoarse from disuse. 

“I think so, yeah. Did you?” Hyunjin jumps a little as Changbin then groans, stretching with several audible pops and creaks of bones before he, too, blinks awake. 

“Morning.” 

Three awake, three asleep. Once Chan, Felix and Seungmin awaken, they can all start their day again… but for now, they’ll let them sleep in as much as they can. They’re going to need all the rest they can get for what the island has in store for them. 

An hour, maybe two more, passes before Chan blinks awake, the last of all of them; surprising even himself after having slept an uninterrupted sleep since he lost consciousness right before sunrise. He hadn’t expected that, but the blessing was by no means unwelcome. 

“We need to eat,” Changbin announces after Jisung’s stomach rumbles embarrassingly loudly, and seems to set Felix’s off right after, making the two giggle uncontrollably. He pulls some dry crackers and a package of meat; one of the last ones left on the ship, out of his own satchel and places the items in his lap, not fancying sandy food. “Everybody come and take some. Felix has the water, too.” 

Once sufficiently fed and watered the group stand on shaky, tired legs (though nobody will admit to it) and begin their journey again, and walking quickly becomes a conscious movement rather than subconscious as feet grow heavy and muscles become tense and stiff. They shoulder on, through relentless heat and humidity, feeling their clothes grow drenched with sweat and their hair becoming matted through it too.

“My hair is the longest it’s ever been now,” Felix comments, running heavy hands through his hair that is, by now, beginning to reach jaw-length. The blue has long since grown out, and his hair is now split between half black and the bright blue he had dyed it before falling back in time, and if he’s completely honest, he doesn’t _want_ to cut the blue away just yet. He’ll keep growing it out, and just have cool, dip-dyed ends instead.

“I mea, we’re on land now, so you could always cut it whilst we’re here, before we set sail again,” Chan says, and Felix furrows his brow in surprise.

“Can’t I just cut it anyway? When I want to?”

“Not at sea, really,” Seungmin explains, and it’s then that Felix really realises how long everybody _else’s_ hair is, too; everyone (apart from Hyunjin’s waist-length locks) has hair reaching mid-way down to their shoulders, although Changbin wears his in thick french braids tied at the back of his neck. “You cut your hair on land _only_. We don’t want to anger Neptune by cutting our hair or nails at sea.”

“Oh.” Felix furrows his brow again, confused as hell. “But if I’m not superstitious or religious, then could I cut my nails at least? They’re so long now and they get in the _way_.” Truth be told, he would have already cut them if he’d have spotted the means of being able to cut them, but alas; he’d found nothing akin to scissors or emery boards, and so had simply waited.

Chan thinks for a second before replying carefully. “I mean, if you wanna risk that for all of us? I’m not particularly superstitious either; not as much as most other sailors or pirates, anyway - but I’d rather not risk it, you know?”

“I feel you.” Looking down at his nails, of which he had gained a new self-awareness about, Felix scrunched his nose up in distaste and bunched his hands into fists, hating the way he was now so aware of his nail length. Perhaps he will come across a rough pebble, or something, that he could use to file them down on as he walks.

“Okay, so according to the maps, we have a while left to walk, and then our next obstacles will appear, after which we’ll reach the red cross. We have around two more challenges before then,” Jisung announces, reading the maps as he walks as Seungmin glances over his shoulder at the parchment, nodding along.

“What’s the next thing we’re facing?” Hyunjin asks, and Changbin perks up too.

“It looks like a rickety old rope bridge, but I reckon we’ll find out when we get there?” the reply comes out sounding like a question, and Changbin hums, flexing his arms subconsciously.

“Whatever it is, I’m ready. Anything’s gotta be better than walking like this for so long. Where are we in water supplies?”

Felix glances back over to Chan, who scours their satchels for water containers.

“Not good. We’re almost out.”

“Shit.”

The sun only seems to intensify in degrees as it beats down relentlessly upon the crew’s heads, and Hyunjin glances down at their hands quickly, wincing at how their skin is already beginning to grow chalky and flaky. Without water, they’re not sure how long they’ll be able to go on land - it’s not as if they had ever considered ever being on land for so long before, let alone in such lethal heat!

“Can we not draw water from any nearby streams?” Changbin asks, concerned. “Surely we’ll all perish before long without it.”

“We have no way of knowing whether the waters here are fit to consume, but if worst comes to worst then it seems we shall have to,” Seungmin sighs. Hyunjin nervously keeps an ear out for any close sounds of running water, eager for an opportunity to at _least_ rehydrate their skin, if not their internal system, too. Water consumption be damned, they need to get _into_ some water quite soon unless they want their skin becoming so dry it starts to bleed with every movement.

“Are you okay?” Changbin whispers to them as he catches them inspecting their arms out of the corner of his eye. “Your skin looks sore.”

“It’s just being away from water; I’ll be fine,” Hyunjin brushes it off with a smile, but Changbin doesn’t return the sentiment; narrowing his eyes just slightly and nodding to acknowledge Hyunjin’s words. Nevertheless he keeps walking, not saying anything in return to Hyunjin’s words as they keep going.

The next step in their journey, they find after yet _more_ walking a steady drop in the ground; a new cliff face that nobody would have thought to be possible, considering the fact that the island itself is flat and surrounded by water. How in the world does this permit there being a steep rock face with dry land at the bottom?

“What… how?” Felix asks when he sees it, incredulousness written in every single one of his freckles as the group gather at the edge of the face and look down over it. The height that they’re facing down has to be at least ten metres high; certainly enough to kill if one was to fall down, and not to mention the _rocks_ _themselves_ : some stretch up even _taller_ than Hyunjin themself, who is the tallest of the group, whilst others are so short that one can see the jagged tips of them from where they stand. Either way, it won’t be a good ending if one is to fall and miss one rather than fall and hit one: they need a way through, and fast.

“It’s just past these rocks and cliff-face, and then the cave that’s marked as our destination is _just beyond_ ,” Changbin informs the group, and Hyunjin announces with excitement that if they squint just so, they can make out the outline of a secluded cave, half-hidden in the ground, beyond the tallest rocks that obscure everybody’s view for the most part.

“Isn’t this part where the map had that rope bridge illustrated?” Chan asked, and Seungmin pulled out the maps from his back pocket, having taken over map custody a short while ago.

“It is indeed; the bridge should be right there-” Seungmin points a long way to the group’s right-hand side, where in the distance they can see thick rope tendrils, savagely destroyed and torn through by the looks of it. Wooden rectangles held together with the remaining rope hang limply against the opposite rock face, and large, splintered chunks of wood litter the particularly thick rocks surrounding it, and probably the ground too, if they could see through the rocks enough to witness it.

“Well. We certainly can’t use the bridge, then,” Felix jokes, but sobers up when he’s met with looks of sombreness instead of good humour. “What now? Is there a way down? The only way is through them.”

“And through them we’ll have to go,” Changbin sighs, and Jisung scans the area for a way of getting down to the ground safely through them. On one hand, they could use the broken bridge length to climb down, and then leap from there and hope for the best - but how in the world would they get back _up_ afterwards? The entire idea is insupportable.

“I mean… the rocks are reasonably close together,” Jisung says, and everybody turns to look at him, slowly, as if he’s spontaneously grown three extra heads and a tail for good measure. “Look - we can barely see the ground as it is. If we are careful, I’d wager it’s possible to leap from rock to rock. They’re certainly close enough together to try.”

“But some of them are so _sharp_ ; it’s too risky,” Chan says, but Seungmin interrupts.

“What other choice do we have?” They’re so close, yet so _achingly_ far away from where they need to be.

After a good few too many minutes of deliberation that only aid to slow them down further, the group decide on trying to step, and jump, from rock to rock. Whilst they are sparse in some places, they seem relatively easy to get to and from each other, as long as extra care is placed on the emphasis of not leaping onto the jagged shard-like rocks, or taking a path down to a lower rock that you will then get stranded upon.

Jisung goes first, as if to prove a point, and as he makes his journey through the masses of unevenly dispersed and heightened rocks, he frowns a little as he feels them shaking beneath him, just a little. It’s almost imperceptible, but he still feels it, that hint of instability. There’s no way the rocks themselves could be shaking - they’re _rocks_ protruding from the ground! No, indeed: he must be imagining things...

It takes a lot of mental effort and calculation before making each leap onto their next rock, but eventually it seems to work, to everybody’s immense relief, and Hyunjin feels a little emotional as they make it to the other side; the last of the group. They had struggled quite a bit more than anyone else, but had powered through and felt immensely proud to have made it through successfully. 

“The cavern!” Seungmin points out loudly as he studies the maps, then the notes that came with them. “The notes say that there are four altogether, and that the one we are looking for is the third one along from the left. This one - come on, we have no time to lose!”

The cavern is indeed minuscule from the outside, and looks more like a hooded rabbit’s hole than anything else (if rabbits were the size of a fully-grown human). Although there is no sea around this part of the island, the top of the cavern, the part exposed to the sun, is covered in dry limpets and seaweed, which is a curious feat in itself.

“Oh my life -- it’s like a slide!” Felix exclaims as he follows Chan and Hyunjin down into the darkness. There are no steps, nor stepping-stones to aid their journey down underground, and indeed there is simply a slope of rock, made slippery with dry sand, that everybody slips, rather than walks, down until they finally, at long last, reach flat ground once more. 

“Fucking _finally_ ,” Jisung pants, the relief in his voice striking a relatable chord with everybody who hears him, and behind him everybody else piles into the cave, squinting at the lack of light underground. If there’s one thing they forgot to bring with them, it’s a reliable light source - but really, how could they have foreseen needing candles in an underground cavern? The notes that came with the map said nothing about this whatsoever - although in all fairness, it really isn’t like the cavern is _lightless_ ; it’s just harder to see once out of the blinding direct sunlight outside. 

Whatever. They’ve been through a lot; individually and as a group they agree that they’re finally allowed to complain, just this once.

“The sand’s soaking wet,” Felix complains as his feet instantly sink down to his ankles into the squishy mess of sand and seawater. Blinking as his eyes adjust, he can suddenly begin to make out the different forms ahead of them; the ceiling over their heads is, predictably and typically of a cavern, anything but flat, with long shards of rock dripping from above their heads whilst salty crystals grow from the walls and ground where the sand ceases to reach.

“It looks more solid over there,” Hyunjin points out, and together the group pull themselves through the treacle-consistency sand, inhaling in shocked relief when they finally reach a long surface of rock to sit and stand upon, instead of fearing for their lives with the sand that was sinking below their weight just a _little_ too much to be safe. 

Across the cave a little way away from them is an open void of seawater that stretches the entire length of the cave before flowing back under some low-hanging rock, slowly moving and lapping against every surface it can touch. Felix eyes it with caution, feeling quite untrusting of this particular rock pool for reasons unknown. Perhaps he had watched too many horror movies regarding water and underground locations before he fell back in time; perhaps it was his gut telling him something. Either way, he wasn’t too fond of sticking around and finding out what lived there.

“The notes accompanying the map tell us that a human has to go through this part of the journey specifically, and alone,” Seungmin whispers, but the cave’s acoustics provide enough room for his words to echo, not needing any additional volume to be understood. “Hyunjin, you can’t go any further… none of us can, apart from just one of us.”

“I will,” Chan says, but he’s stopped by Felix’s hand on his arm, stopping him.

“You’re our captain, Chan,” he murmurs, “We need you here.”

“I’ll go. Whatever it is, I’ll do it,” Seungmin offers, and then blinks, hard. “What do the notes specify, exactly?”

“The notes read that a human has to travel underwater in this cave, presumably through this huge rockpool, to bury the rock in a specific place -- the next page describes it as _black as the night, and twice as volatile._ But either way, Seungmin, you couldn't do it, not with your prosthetic.” 

“Volatile? That’s impossible; it’s underwater.”

“Black as the night? The human eye will not be able to detect anything beyond even half as dark when it’s underwater,” Hyunjin argues, “I will go.”

“The notes specify that the being has to be _human_ ; we won’t risk anything happening to you, or anyone else in this cave, if we risk it and send you instead, Hyunjin.” 

And thus came the point of stalemate within the cave, for nobody quite knew what to do next, nor how to approach the apparent matter at hand of _getting someone into that water_. 

“I’ll do it,” Changbin broke the terse silence, and at once Seungmin spoke up indignantly.

“No, Bin, I already said I’d do it-”

“I can hold my breath for longer than you, _and_ I’m a better swimmer,” he cut in, letting his chest puff out in pride; both teasing Seungmin to lighten the mood and proving a valid point. “I’ll be back before anyone knows it. Who has the rock?”

“I do,” Hyunjin said, and handed it over without argument. Even in the dim light of the cavern, Changbin could still see how their skin was beginning to flake quite concerningly, looking dry beyond human comfort and almost at the point of _crumbling_. He grits his teeth as he takes the black pouch from Hyunjin’s hands. He’ll be quicker; faster than he ever planned to be, if only so that the group can get Hyunjin back to water that they’ll be permitted into again.

Placing the pouch containing the rock on the ground beside him, Changbin rid himself of his outer layers and shirt, leaving himself in just his trousers, lest his baggier shirts and accessories weigh him down or get him caught on hidden rocks and coral pieces. 

“I’ll get this over with,” he promises, and then he grabs ahold of the pouch and dives, headfirst into the freezing cold water that waits for him in all its dark, secluded glory.

The cave is silent as Changbin disappears, diving deep from the start, and although Changbin is the person most in need of holding his breath, the entire cave seems to completely still for a moment; not a single inhale, or exhale can be heard or felt between the five remaining crew members as they watch the water close back up around Changbin’s body and engulf him whole; concealing his entire form and offering its eager onlookers the view of only darkness, thick and unforgiving.

Time passes, and yet Changbin does not return.

As soon as their friend disappeared below the surface Seungmin had taken the medical satchel that Jeongin had given to Felix away from his friend, pulling out the oils and salves he knew so well and insisting that Hyunjin let him rub it into their painfully irritated skin, as a substitute for water until they could finally swim again. Although reluctant, Hyunjin allows it; the feeling of Seungmin’s fingers against their skin providing much more comfort than they ever could have hoped for as they keep their eyes trained on the water that stays obstinately still and unmoving.

“It’s been far too long,” Jisung chokes out, and rushes forward to the edge of the pool. “Chan, it’s been too long, he’s not going to be able to breathe, I-” 

Chan rushes forward and, with the help of Seungmin, holds Jisung back from leaping into the water after Changbin. Hyunjin and Felix watch with wide, scared eyes as Jisung starts to cry, choked sobs escaping his mouth as he stares into the dark abyss before them.

“Let me go, let me _go, he’s not come up for air, he won’t be breathing,_ ” Jisung sobs, “LET ME _GO!”_

“We can’t, Jisung, you know we can’t let you go in there after him,” Chan whispers, and his voice sounds choked too. Seungmin’s hands shake from where they’re clinging onto Jisung’s arm tightly, fighting against his friend’s struggling. The notes accompanying the map explicitly state that only one person may enter the pool, and yet this feat seems impossible for anybody, given the hopeless amount of time Changbin has been gone for. 

The cavern is silent, save from the echoes of Jisung’s laboured breathing and cries, and the sound is haunting.

Felix had tried to hold his own breath as soon as Changbin had submerged, but even _he_ had given up _minutes_ ago. It shouldn’t be humanly possible to hold one’s breath for so long… could Changbin really be gone?

“What should we do… if Changbin is down there, we know not if the rock has been rightly placed where the map told us to,” Hyunjin says quietly, and their voice echoes off the cavern walls in a jarring way. “We cannot go back in after him… yet I can’t bear the thought of leaving here without him.”

“It’s only been a few minutes, perhaps he found an opening and stopped to catch his breath before continuing,” Felix tries, wanting an optimistic point, and most likely in denial already. “Perhaps… perhaps the adrenaline is keeping him going so far…”

The excuses sound flat and empty even to his own ears.

Jisung stops struggling, _finally_ , and goes limp against the chests of Chan and Seungmin, panting through tears as he stares dumbly into the pool of water that stays stubbornly still, unmoving, its surface still unbroken.

Even Hyunjin’s eyes begin to fill with helpless tears then. It’s become increasingly clear that they may have seen the last of Changbin.

“Guys,” they say, “is it time to-” all at once the water rumbles, the sound coming from deep below its surface and almost sounding as if it comes straight from the very _core_ of the earth - and the water’s surface _parts_ ; Changbin’s head breaking the surface as he desperately gasps in air in gigantic lungfuls, legs kicking with vigour to keep his mouth above water and immersed in fresh, crisp _air_. 

“ _Changbin_ ,” Jisung shrieks, pushing away from the confines of Chan and Seungmin’s protective arms and lunging for the edge of the pool, although to his credit he is very careful to not touch the surface of the water. “Changbin, Changbin-”

Water flies in every possible direction and soaks the rest of the group as Changbin hoists himself out of the water, laying on his back and not bothering to try to dry himself, gasping for an entirely different reason when Jisung throws himself on top of him in relief. His skin is grey-tinged, almost blue, but he’s breathing; he’s alive.

“Jisung, let him breathe,” Felix tries, but a wordless wave of Changbin’s hand followed by the elder’s arms sliding up around Jisung as he hugs the younger back, both fighting for breath for their own individual reasons, is enough to stop any more attempts to pull Jisung back.

Changbin’s eyes roll back in his head for a second, and he grows still and limp, his arms falling off Jisung, but the feeling of his chest moving below Jisung’s is enough reassurance to keep them notified of his living state, and they wait in concern for him to return to consciousness.

Felix, Hyunjin and Seungmin rush to crowd around him in fright, but Chan orders them back, feeling as if Jisung’s contact is crowding enough for an unconscious person.

“Give him some air as he comes to. It’ll be from holding his breath for so long.”

At last Changbin blinks back awake after a few agonising minutes of stillness, and Jisung pulls back just for a second to check that his facial expression isn’t one of pain or distress. At the clarity in Changbin’s eyes as he heaves huge breaths in and out, he breaks like a dam, and embraces him again, tears mixing with the salty water that still clings to his friend’s skin.

“You were gone for so long,” Jisung cries into Changbin’s chest, “I thought you -- d-died, the water was so still-”

“I’m still here, Jisung,” Changbin says, and his voice is hoarse and strained, sounding as if his throat itself is rusty. “Alive and winded.”

“You’re alive,” Jisung repeats, and his arms wind tight around Changbin’s torso as he pulls himself into a sitting position.

“The rock has been returned to its rightful place, but we have to go now,” Changbin says, reaching for his abandoned clothes to pull back on as everybody else, save Jisung, stands up and readies themselves to leave. They, too, would like to embrace Changbin in the same relieved fashion that Jisung is doing right now, but with the urgency in Changbin’s voice they fear that there may not be time to do so until this whole ordeal is over with.

“When I was underwater, I heard something. A low rumbling of sorts.” A deep breath is taken after every short sentence. “It sounded like - like it was underground. I have a very bad feeling… that it may be a volcano - one of the ones we saw whilst docking.”

“Shit,” Felix curses, and helps Jisung to his feet as Hyunjin and Chan aid Changbin in getting to his own. “We gotta go in case it erupts, then. It’s close to here and if lava should make it into this cavern, we’ll be trapped with nowhere to go.”

“Indeed.”

Almost as if on cue, the ground shakes with a new intensity where the group stands; the water in the vast rockpool vibrates in ripples and splashes onto the rocks at their feet. 

_“Shit_ ,” Felix repeats, and everybody rushes to the cavern entrance, Seungmin and Hyunjin helping Changbin struggle along on weak legs whilst Chan and Jisung take the rest of his clothes to put on later. As of now, they have no time to waste.

Unable and unwilling to waste another minute the group rushes back through the island, the added adrenaline and panic making it easy to fight their way through the rocks this time, and within a few hours that simultaneously feel like both seconds and millenia, they are well on their way back to the intense rapids that Hyunjin had had to transport them all across. It’s a terrific feat to manage within a day, but as felix had said a few days prior, adrenaline does indeed aid one in the most tremendous of ways in times such as these, and once they do reach the rapids, panting and out of breath, they are in such a position in the island that they can finally see the volcano in question.

“It’s smoking like anything,” Chan says unhelpfully as they all catch their breath. Changbin uses this time to put on the rest of his clothes and relieve Jisung and Chan from the responsibility of holding them for him, and the rest of the group cast their eyes towards the sky; ashy in colour and looking incredibly thick and unpleasant. 

“This is only the beginning,” Felix says ominously, recalling the very limited knowledge he had of volcanic eruptions from when he learned about volcanoes as a young child, in school. At the tender age of eight he had been very invested in the subject, and at the news of one eruption in particular sending ash clouds circling the globe he had waited excitedly at the window all day at the weekend to catch a glimpse of one travelling right over his house. Although his knowledge now was sparse and subpar, he wagered it would be better than anyone else’s in the group, although he knew not of how educated they would be on the scientifics of it. 

He really should have paid attention in history class. Perhaps then he’d have some sort of idea of the basics of knowledge of science and volcanoes in the 1720s. 

“Hyunjin, do you feel able to take us across the rapids now?”

Hyunjin pants, but throws their hair out of their face with a determined gaze. “Yes.”

Seungmin steps forward in protest, but is silenced by Hyunjin’s hard glare.

“Yes. I can handle it. Give me another moment to catch my breath, and then I’ll take Changbin first, this time.” 

The journeys across the rapids take much longer than the first time, and once everybody is back across the water Hyunjin can barely shift back into their human form, let alone stand. The one good thing that came from it is that, Changbin notices, their skin looks more refreshed and hydrated now, and looks not nearly as painful and cracked as it did back in the cave. Small blessings, he supposes.

“We have to stop and rest,” Jisung demands, and Hyunjin turns to him, panting heavily.

“No.”

“Hyunjin, you can barely stand. I know this volcano is about to blow, and we need to get back to the ship before the Reds find us, but if we don’t rest soon then we may well perish, ourselves,” Chan backs Jisung up, and the rest of the crew nod in agreement. 

“Changbin needs to rest, too. Are you denying Changbin rest too?” Seungmin coerces them gently, and Hyunjin shakes their head, letting their eyes slip shut at the feeling of Seungmin’s hands in their hair, gently coaxing them into agreement. 

“Thank you. Now, let us go and find somewhere where we can rest for a few hours, and then, and only then, will we discuss our next move,” Chan orders, and everybody nods; Seungmin lifts Hyunjin onto his back again - his own personal, living backpack - and the group starts moving again, finding refuge under the closest group of trees that they can find. At this point, they are finally close enough to the forest to provide them with hope of getting back to their ship soon, but far away enough to reassure them that they won’t be attacked by the same vicious orangutans as before.

Once again Chan offers to stay awake whilst everybody else rests, and not even Felix can object or offer to stay awake with him; everybody falls asleep as soon as their heads hit the ground, not even bothering to move around to get comfortable.

Leaning back against a tree trunk as he watches over his beloved crewmates, Chan glances up at the darkening sky and pushes down the tidal wave of worry that threatens to wash away all sense of sensibility. 

.

.

.

.

When the next person, who happens to be Felix, blinks awake, he blearily shuffles along the ground to take Chan’s place against the tree trunk, and urges his captain to sleep a little if he can, for the sake of strength and revival before the last leg of their challenge and mission. 

To the freckled boy’s relief, Chan does end up sleeping a little, his head cradled in Felix’s lap as the younger boy traces patterns into his scalp with soothing fingertips. 

He watches as Hyunjin and Changbin sleep, giving them particular attention and perception as they rest and, hopefully, re energise. The best case scenario will be that the group make it back to their ship without any hitches - three days away from Minho and Jeongin have already taken a toll on Felix, and so he cannot _imagine_ how hard it must have been on the rest of the crew, who are used to seeing Jeongin everyday for much of their lives - but the worst case would be, say, getting attacked by the orang-utans again, or even that the Reds have managed to infiltrate the island. 

Felix shudders at the thought. Although he has only heard tales about them, those tales from the rest of the crew, bar Minho, have been enough to make him feel truly sick to his stomach. 

He knows that the Reds’ captain did _something_ to Jisung as a child, but seeing the distress it caused his friend to even hear of their captain’s name, Felix knew better than to press. He wasn’t sure he even _wanted_ to know, full stop. 

Jisung himself is the next to wake, after what Felix presumes is another few hours wherein he himself drifts in and out of consciousness - although he keeps a keen ear open for any approaching sounds. The sun has travelled far in the sky by the time Jisung awakens, and the ash being spewed out by the volcano on the other side of the island is, at this point, almost enough to drown out the sun completely. It’s getting to be concerning, and so with Jisung’s help, Felix wakes the rest of the crew, knowing that if they leave it too late they may not have another opportunity _to_ wake up.

“The ash clouds are thickening, we need to start moving,” Felix wakes Chan last, knowing he got the least sleep by far. The ground has been steadily shaking, on and off, for the last few hours, and although Felix knows from experience how soothing the gentle tremors can feel, he _also_ remembers from class that they will start to get much more intense the closer to eruption the volcano gets. They won’t want to be by any trees, or even preferably on land, by the time an eruption comes. 

Bleary and stiff-limbed, the group continues moving, with not nearly enough energy to keep them going as they should have, but the motivation of seeing Jeongin and Minho again, and escaping back out to see, away from volcanoes and malicious enemy ships, makes it all worth it and spurs every single being on as they march determinedly back through the forests, ignoring the way the humidity makes their clothes sticky once more, and turning the uncomfortable feeling into a form of strength and motivation to _keep going_. 

The ground shakes again, more intense this time, and it’s enough to spur everyone to full alertness as they break into a run through the trees as the sea _finally_ comes back into sight. There are no signs of any animals this time; not even birds, which contributes to the seriousness of the eruption, but it works to their advantage as everybody rushes on unsteady feet over thick roots and fights to stay upright past the tremors of the earth. 

Rushing back through the remaining island, the crew waste not another second; and adrenaline-fuelled tunnel vision leading them back to their ship makes them fail to acknowledge the _other_ ship docked right next to the Strays’ ship, nor the fact that it is teeming with more pirates than just Jeongin and Minho. 

  
  
  
  


It’s only when they hear Jeongin’s agonised screams that they realise.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The Reds had made it back before they had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading! next chapter is even bigger in terms of events and development, and i'm so excited for you to read it! 
> 
> thank you for sticking with me thus far, we're almost at the end - and after this fic, i'll be turning this au into a series (to which i'll be adding to pretty much straight away as i have some stuff pre-written!) so stick around after this fic's finished if you're looking for some skz pirate love stories, as this fic was centred mostly on plot with small developments in romance but nothing story-leading. the continuations in the series will be more love-focused and whilst there'll still be plot, you'll be seeing a lot more fluff and romance if you like that kind of thing! 
> 
> leave a comment if you'd like, i love hearing your thoughts on each chapter's new developments <3


	9. chapter nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fights, loves, and cliffhangers. what could be better?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **IMPORTANT**: TRIGGER WARNING FOR VIOLENCE AND BLOOD IN THIS CHAPTER. this is the goriest chapter yet, (and at all - don't worry!) and although injuries aren't described in bloody, graphic depth, there are mentions of swords, cuts, fights and injuries, so please only read if you're okay with that!
> 
> with that said, i hope that if you do read this chapter you'll enjoy it!

“QUICK,” Chan yells, and they make a break for it, sprinting along the sand that slows down their journey so frustratingly that it feels like a dream, but this is _real_ , so palpable and there’s no pinching their arms hard enough to wake them up; they can only carry on in this reality that feels like it’s been set at 0.5 percent speed. Why couldn’t the tide have just gone out and left the sand hard-packed and damp? All-consuming desperation is all anybody feels as they sprint through what feels like miles of soft, loose sand, and finally, _finally,_ they make it to their ship; to Minho and Jeongin. 

Everything’s in a bad state; the Reds’ ship is docked just a couple of ships width’s away, and thankfully they’ve chosen to not deploy their cannons, but then _not_ as thankfully, they’ve all decided to completely abandon their ship in favour of boarding the Strays’ ship. It’s so painfully unfair; tens and tens of savage, ruthless crew members against their two sweet friends, and Felix is _sure_ he can physically feel his heart leaping into his throat, the panic suffocating him. 

They waste no time in boarding their ship- _their_ ship, get _away_ from it, you _monsters-_ and Minho and Jeongin are nowhere in sight; and the Reds are laughing heartily as the six other members jump aboard frantically. 

Their Captain steps forward, and Jisung audibly whimpers; Captain Caldwell looking every bit as grisly and terrifying as the time he’d nearly ended Jisung’s life all those years ago, and the towering giant grins; laughs lowly, the sound rumbling deep in his chest as he surveys the scene. 

“Pathetic,” is the first thing he says, continuing to step forward, ever so slowly, like he knows there’s nowhere for the Strays to hide now. And there isn’t. “You know, we’ve been waiting for you to return.” 

“Where are Minho and Jeongin,” Chan growls, standing tall as he can physically stretch himself, trying his best to look intimidating to the other, more murderous Captain of the two. On anyone else it would have absolutely worked; but his attempt falls flat against Caldwell, whose laughter only increases as he looks down on Chan. 

“Oh, we’ve met your little friends! _Very_ cute. And I daresay one looks _exactly_ like the lost Prince of Aebarrow… it would really be such a shame if we were to bring him back with us for ransom. Imagine the ship we could buy with all the money his little palace has to offer, ‘ey boys!” 

The larger crew laugh too, then, evil cackles and small rounds of applause echoing in the sea air. It feels hollow, unreal. Seungmin wants it all to stop; put a stopper on everything and throw the bottle away into the deepest depths of the seven seas.

“And the other one… so small. So pretty. We could sell him off, too, if we wanted…”

“Don’t you dare lay a _finger_ on either of them,” Changbin snarls, stepping forward and ready to throw a punch at the first chance; Hyunjin holds him back with strong arms that still tremble with fear, regardless. 

“No? Oh… you see, I think you’re a little late to the party,” Caldwell fakes sympathy, his facade ruined by the bloodcurdling grin on his face. “Boys, bring them up.” 

It takes three of his crew members to drag the two back onboard from wherever they were below-deck, and instantly, the remaining Strays feel sick to their stomach, and Felix has to swallow hard to stop himself from physically reacting. Minho’s eyes are fluttering; he’s walking the fine line between conscious and unconscious, and two crew members are needed to hold him up, holding him roughly around his arms that are slick with blood. His face, too, is covered in cuts and bruises; he’s obviously taken a beating or two. Jeongin is conscious and is walking fine, but struggles against the pirate holding him, desperate tears clouding his eyes as a sharp knife is pressed firm against his throat. There are no visible cuts on his face, but his shirt, too, is bloodied and it’s hard to tell where it’s coming from. 

Jisung makes a hoarse sound from beside Hyunjin, like he’s about to cry or be sick, and not even he knows which one it is; but he’s silenced from even figuring that out when their opposing Captain speaks up again. 

“Speak one word and pretty boy number two won’t survive to the end of your sentence,” Caldwell threatens as multiple Strays open their mouths to speak at once, and they shut them immediately, shuffling back and forth in mental turmoil as to deciding whether they should run towards the two or not. 

“See, we came here to _retrieve_ something,” Caldwell continues, and Hyunjin eyes the other crew nervously, mentally counting the number of members aboard their ship. They easily have the Strays outnumbered at at least two to one. 

“Something of value. We can control the sea with it, you see, and I know you’ve had your dirty paws all over it if the past siren attacks have been anything to go by.” 

“You’re not laying a single finger on it,” Felix spits, and Caldwell turns to him with fire in his eyes. 

“Oh? A boy with blue hair as _well_ as a prince, I see. And how did _this_ happen?” the gargantuan man wastes no time in approaching the smaller boy, and runs a filthy hand through his hair, purposely tugging at the strands painfully. Felix schools his expression, refusing to react, and Caldwell laughs. 

“Fascinating. Another one to… add to my collection. What a variety I’ll have.” Caldwell needs only click his fingers and instantly two more of his crew members are approaching Felix, taking hold of him and dragging him over to where Minho lolls and Jeongin stands ramrod-straight, and Felix is held there, unable to escape the tight hands that cut off the blood supply to his arms within seconds. He flexes his fingers desperately, needing to be free as Jeongin’s eyes connect with his own, though the younger dares not move his head at all. The roar of his heart drowns out the next words that the Reds' Captain utters.

“Anyone else?” 

Hyunjin moves a single hand up to their neck, slowly rearranging their hair so that it covers their gills. The last thing they need is the Reds realising the Strays also had a siren in their crew, they reason to themself, and besides- they were beginning to formulate a plan. With the correct timing, they could only pray that it would work. 

“What do you want, Caldwell?” Chan is exasperated by this point, and all fear has melted away in the face of protecting his crew. 

“Just some treasure. You know, the usual, sea-and-siren-controlling kind.” Caldwell’s face contorts into one of dark, twisted emotion and he thrusts out a hand that stays as empty as his promises. “Now, hand it over and there’ll be no problems.”

“It’s not here.” Seungmin has slipped back into his threatening-pirate persona, the same act he had put on when he first met Felix below-deck all that time ago, and his face is cool and unbothered in the face of death. Felix's blood runs cold at the sight across the deck. “Now let our friends go.”

“His _friends_ ,” one of the Reds’ members mocks, and the crew breaks out in cruel laughter. 

“There’s nobody else who has it,” Caldwell speaks nicely, and it’s somehow scarier than the growl he used on them when they first boarded minutes ago. “I know one of you has it. I give you my word that nobody else gets hurt if you hand it over.”

“Your word doesn’t mean jackshit,” Chan says loudly, steadily. “And we don’t have the treasure. It’s already been destroyed.” 

“I don’t _believe_ you,” Caldwell steps uncomfortably close into Chan’s personal space, and Chan has to breathe through his mouth against the sickeningly sour odour of his breath. “Do you _want_ your crewmates to die, right here, right now?” 

“You can tear us apart limb from limb, but you’ll never find the treasure. It. Has. Been. Destroyed,” Chan levelled, taking his own step forward so he’s chest to chest with the evil being in front of him. Changbin’s heartbeat grows impossibly fast with fear; is Chan _trying_ to get himself killed? 

Jisung is yet to speak a word, feeling paralysed with fear at the sight of his childhood near-murderer, and Hyunjin’s hand snakes into his own, squeezing lightly. None of the Strays apart from Chan and Changbin know about his past trauma, but they can sense something’s wrong, and Jisung is immensely grateful for the physical comfort of Hyunjin’s hand in his. 

“No human can touch it without activating it. You’re lying.” 

“That’s what you think,” Chan is wise enough to not give away the fact that one of their crew members isn’t even human, and Hyunjin subconsciously breathes a silent sigh of relief. “It’s gone.”

“Chan,” Hyunjin whispers, his words breathy and oozing with minute terror, “Stop. We have to negotiate somehow- the Reds literally have enough weapons to block out the _sun_.”

Chan grins menacingly in return, sparing Hyunjin just one glance before locking eyes with Caldwell once more.

_“Then we’ll fight in the shade.”_

The truth seems to finally settle in Caldwell’s eyes, and he immediately seems to grow a few feet taller in rage. “It’s not possible!” he bellows, and Jisung cowers in fear. The Captain’s yell seems to even strike fear into nature itself, and everything, even the sea and wind, seems to hold statue-still for a moment; everybody holds their breath in anticipation. 

“Attack.” The word is almost inaudible, but everybody hears it loud and clear; Caldwell’s crew springs to action and wastes no time in leaping into action and advancing straight onto the Strays. 

Felix’s eyes blow wide as he watches the pirate next to him tighten his grip on Jeongin, hand flexing and ready to drive the knife into the sensitive flesh of his neck, and he sees _red._

Leaping into the air (the pirates holding him are trying to stop him from running _forwards_ , and are in no way holding him _down),_ he uses the element of surprise to weaken the grip on his arms and kicks sideways, managing to knock the pirate to his right to the ground with a hard kick to the side of the knee, and then uses his head to smash into the chest of his other captor, _hard_ , and uses the shock wave it sends through the other’s body to his advantage; pulls his arms free before his hands fly out on instinct to grab the pirate holding Jeongin by his wrist, squeezing with strength he had no idea he even _had_ and twisting his wrist out of the way of the precious skin of the younger’s neck. 

“Run,” Felix chokes out, and Jeongin ducks under Felix’s arm and runs straight for Minho as Felix advances forward and employs his knowledge of self-defence to pin the pirate’s arm down, delivers a swift kick to the nose, knee to the crotch, and lets him fall to the floor in pain before delivering one last kick to the back of his neck, effectively knocking the pirate out as his head connects with the deck, hard. The blue-haired boy wastes no time in bending down to rip the weapon from his hands and thrusts it into his belt for safekeeping before immediately joining Jeongin in freeing Minho from the grasp of the other two pirates, struggling against the devastatingly large number of their enemies trying to pull them away for blood. 

Minho’s eyes flutter upwards and his legs give way completely as the four-person fumble ensues, and Felix, in a moment of desperation, pulls out the knife he took from Jeongin’s captor and uses it to stab a painful wound into one of the pirate’s hands, and they instantly let go of the unconscious prince with a yell as Felix swiftly repeats the action on the other pirate holding onto his friend before whizzing around and fending off their other attackers whilst Jeongin instantly takes the brunt of Minho’s full weight, grunting slightly as he holds the taller up from hitting the floor. 

“Where do I put him?” he wheezes out, and Felix can’t even look back to assess the situation due to the seemingly endless amounts of pirates running at them from all directions. 

“Somewhere we can protect him,” is all he can think of, knowing that if Jeongin takes Minho below-deck they’ll only be followed and more vulnerable without the rest of the crew to fend off the other attackers. 

Jeongin ends up setting Minho’s weak body down on the floor, back propped up against the bulkhead as his head lolls to the side, no strength in his body against anything; seemingly out cold against the world around him. Once he’s settled down safely- or as safely as Jeongin can manage in the face of inescapable danger- he stands in front of the Prince’s vulnerable form, pistol out in front of him and ready to fire. 

“I got it,” he announces, stepping into the same level as Felix and helping him take on half of their current attackers. “Let’s burn them to the ground.” 

*

Yells and bangs fill the air as all hell breaks loose, and instantly the Strays are swamped with their enemies, weapons against bare hands and desperation for survival. 

“We’re outnumbered,” Jisung cries, backing up against the bulkhead as three pirates advance on him at once. He has no weapon and they have multiple; what is he supposed to do?” 

“Eat metal,” Seungmin screams with glee from a few feet away, and Jisung has _never_ felt so glad to see someone flinging lagrange about in his entire lifetime. One well-aimed handful of metal screws and scraps from Seungmin has the three pirates stumbling backwards at once, hands covering their faces as one in particular cries out especially loudly, and Jisung lets out an ‘oooh’ to see copious amounts of blood pouring out of their left eye. 

Poor man. He’ll have no choice but to wear an eye patch from now on. 

“Thanks, Seungmin!” Jisung practically sings as he finally feels the adrenaline that only a good battle could bring into his bones finally activate within him, and he skips over to his partner in crime. “I’ll take some of this, too.” 

Using the only weapon they now have- the lagrange- the two set to work flinging great handfuls of the stuff about, successfully scoring many hits against the pirates trying to advance on them. Scrap metal is very helpful for deterring attackers when they’re running at full speed towards you and then get hit by heavy metal, also thrown at full speed. Never underestimate the damage just a small thing can do. 

Jisung manages to successfully blind two more pirates, and Seungmin another for himself, when they see another pirate having almost successfully sneaked past Felix and Jeongin. 

“Oh no you _don’t,_ ” Jisung yells, and flings a bulging handful at the pirate’s back, the metal falling down surprisingly heavily onto their back and making them turn around in rage. Jisung almost laughs at the look on his face, but his laughter quickly fades as he realises the pirate’s holding a pistol. 

“Wait-” Jisung starts, but falls down blindly when the pistol is pointed at him and the trigger is pulled within milliseconds; the bullet piercing his leg as blood flows freely onto the deck beneath him. His attacker laughs maniacally, and moves forward, pistol discarded and knife in hand, but Jisung is still faster even with a fresh bullet wound and pulls his penknife from his pants pocket; the adrenaline from being shot and the fighting around him is enough to hone his senses right in to perfection ans he hits the pirate square in the chest as he throws it, hard. _Stupid man. He should have finished Jisung off when he had the chance._

“Jisung!” Seungmin can’t stop throwing the lagrange; their only weak barrier against their now more-vulnerable selves, but he can’t just leave Jisung there to bleed out, can he?

“I’m fine,” Jisung coughs through shock-induced tears. He gets to his feet despite Seungmin protesting in panic, and leans heavily against the bulkhead. “I’m fine. Let’s roast these fuckers.” 

*

“There are so many of them,” Hyunjin looks about helplessly as Chan pulls one knife and two guns out of his belt and hands one weapon each to Hyunjin and Changbin before immediately taking aim with his own pistol. 

“We’re more of a team, they all act -- on their own,” Chan’s sentence is broken up as he ducks under a pirate’s arm and shoots. “Work together.” 

Hyunjin holds the knife Chan supplies them with with shaking hands, and they cry out as one pirate jumps in front of them, holding their hands in front of their face instead of using the blade to protect themself with. One bullet from Changbin sends the pirate sprawling onto the deck in pain, and Hyunjin looks around for their crewmate. 

“ _Use the knife_ ,” Changbin yells, visibly frustrated, and Hyunjin looks back down at it dumbly, nodding before remembering Jisung’s tactic from their previous attack. _Aha_. 

Running on quick feet to the rigging, the siren climbs up, up, up until they’ve hit a useful vantage point, surveying the scene before they see Chan being cornered by three much bigger pirates directly below him. _Perfect._

They leap, fall, land right in between Chan and his three attackers, and swings their arm in a neat semi-circle, swiping each pirate in quick succession across their chests, hard enough to pierce the flesh but obviously not deep enough to reach their organs or be fatal due to the length of the knife, but it stalls enough time for Chan to cock his pistol and deliver one, two, three bullets into the very edges of their hips, away from their vital organs but leaving enough room to pierce their sides and effectively disarm them enough for them to not be able to corner them anymore- _ever the pacifist approach_ ; even when fighting the most feared, ruthless crew out there, pacificm was always the way to go until you reached absolute _desperation._

It's what sets the Strays apart from these _monsters_.

“Nice work,” Chan sounds suitably impressed as the two survey the scene for a second, no more pirates coming their way just yet as most of the attention was now centred around getting to the unconscious prince, still on the floor behind Jeongin and Felix. He wastes no time in snatching the cutlasses from their defeated opponents’ hands and hands one to Hyunjin before standing again.

“There. Let’s go,” Hyunjin points the scene out and they immediately run over, fighting their way through the crowd of bloodthirsty men with their newly acquired weapons until they’ve disarmed enough to stand beside their other two crew mates and in front of their friend; forming a new wall of defence. 

“They’ll have to kill all of us, it seems,” Felix mutters darkly before lunging forward, feeling adrenaline and rage fill his entire body, shooting through his veins like fire at the thought that these pirates really did have the motive to kill them all, and because of what? A damn _rock?_ They have got to be kidding.

“Felix- _AH,_ ” Jeongin interrupts, heart lurching as he feels rather than sees a sword whistle past his head, very narrowly missing his temple, and sprints at the pirate wielding it to disarm and cut his throat. “Felix!”

“Y- _fuck you- YEAH?_ ” Felix yells, spinning on his heel and landing a groin kick to the pirate advancing on him. 

“I…” despite the fact that Jeongin is high on adrenaline; his blood is buzzing like vibrations in his veins and feeding his entire body with fire and energy to fight until the end, his words suddenly fail him. “We could both literally die in this battle-”

“I’m _well aware, Innie,_ ” Felix interrupts-

“-and this is _fast,_ so so fast, but we could literally both be dead within minutes-”

“-what is it-”

“I just need you to know that I love you.”

Felix gasps, and his grip falters on his sword; tightening at the very last second before a fatal blow to the chest knocks all the breath out of him. He doubles over, coughing and spluttering, and Jeongin leaps over the corpse of the pirate whose throat he just cut to fend off the pirate who just disarmed Felix. 

“ _What? Jeongin, is no-”_ Felix coughs and struggles to draw breath- “Is now _really the time?_ ”

“When we could _die_ in _seconds_ , _yes, Felix.”_

“I-” Felix stands straight and together, they send their opponent flying and flailing overboard- “I love you too, Jeongin.”

Felix’s eyes are soft in juxtaposition to the battle, and just for a second, Jeongin feels a moment of calm wash over him, before-

A shriek pulls them out of their -incredibly stupidly timed- reverie and they jump back into action, back-to-back against one another as they circle slowly and hold their stolen cutlasses at arms’ length and _fight._

“Then marry me.”

The words are muffled over the surrounding scream and yells, but the words are unmistakable. 

“ _WHAT?_ ” 

_“_ Marry me, right now, Lee Felix. Chan is Captain; he can officiate it,” Jeongin says breathlessly, and his spare hand finds Felix’s, squeezing his fingers tightly, so tight that both men feel as if their hands will crumble like dust if they were to hold on even a fraction harder than they already are. They need both of their hands free to fight properly, but stupidly, recklessly, desperately: they refuse to part, they hold tight and do not part.

“Okay,” Felix speaks normally, and Jeongin strains his ears to catch the syllables. “Okay,” he repeats, louder this time, and inhales a great lungful of air. “CHAN! MARRY US!” 

“What- _NOW?”_ Chan is panting so hard he can barely talk, and the sudden command catches him off-guard.

“YES, _NOW,_ ” Jeongin yells back, yelling out as his sword clashes against his enemies. “DO YOU REMEMBER THE VOWS?”

“ _God, you two don’t do things by halves!”_ Chan yells, and leaps up onto the rigging, holding on for dear life with one hand as he lands strong kicks and blows to the pirates swiping and grabbing at him. “Oh my life- alright-” he laughs a little in pure disbelief before sending his cutlass straight through the arm of an opponent about to claw him in the thigh. “FELIX- DO YOU TAKE JEONGIN- _fuck, that hurt- TO BE YOUR HUSBAND, FOR BETTER OR FOR-_ no, you _don’t-”_ he stops for a second to leap down from the rigging and growls in anger as he fights yet another opponent off, “Were you not phased by your _friend_ getting stabbed just a second ago?- FELIX, FOR BETTER OR WORSE, IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH-”

“For as long as we both shall live, I _DO_ ,” Felix interrupts, grappling behind himself and locking his arm with Jeongin’s, elbows linked tightly together and weapons pointed out in front of them. 

It takes slightly longer for Jeongin to repeat his own vows back, and at long last he growls aloud in frustration and voices every single line, word for word, complete with his “ _I do”_ from sheer impatience at the inconvenience of Chan’s frequent interruptions from incoming swords and cutlasses. 

“ _Then, I pronounce you both married,_ ” Chan wheezes, breathless, and drives his sword clean through the midriff of a pirate who got a little _too_ close to Hyunjin for comfort. 

“Your union won’t last longer than a moment,” a particularly unhinged-looking pirate snarled, gripping his cutlass that little bit tighter and plunging it forwards, towards either of Felix or Jeongin that he could reach. In the distance, the volcano suddenly rumbles, and the vibrations make the sea below the ship begin to quiver - the pirate falls to the side, and his sword grazes a long cut along Jeongin’s hip. 

Now it’s Felix’s turn to growl in anger, and he leaps forward, driving the toe of his thick boot into the pirate’s shoulder before pushing the blade of his own cutlass into the opposite shoulder, exhaling in rage as the pirate beneath him flails and yells, disarmed and at his mercy.

“Holy shit,” Chan laughs aloud as he watches the usually calm and wholesome younger boy suddenly flip like a switch into full-on _rager_ mode, and the sight of it makes even his own blood run a little colder in his veins as he catches sight of the pure murder in Felix’s eyes as he fends off their new attackers with more vigour than he’d ever thought humanly possible.

_Mess with our crew, get wrecked._

*

“The bulk of them are trying to get to Minho,” Jisung points out as he presses one hand to his wound, trying to staunch the flow of blood as he uses his other hand to fend off his and Seungmin’s own pursuers, and he feels his veins turn to ice as the wall of defence his other four crew mates had formed around their helpless friend slowly grows smaller as they back up gradually against the bulkhead- soon they’ll surely be close enough to simple throw overboard, if a pirate gets close enough, and then they’ll all be done for. 

“Oh my life,” he whispers, and Seungmin notices too; their lagrange is slowly running out, but they still have enough to keep throwing- they have to change course. 

“Try and get them all in Felix’s direction,” Seungmin orders, and Jisung can only gape.

“You’re mad! That’s only going to make things harder for them-”

“No. If we get them all in one place they’re an easier target to hit, and then technically they’ll be the ones cornered by us.”

Jisung nods slowly, seeing Seungmin’s perspective on things, and shuffles out to the right; the hard metal being thrown at the pirates making them dodge and stumble right in their intended direction: over to the bulk of the action. 

“Kim Seungmin, you genius,” is all Jisung can manage as he limps out, and Seungmin grins maniacally, throwing handful after handful of metal that pierces limb after limb and makes their enemies scream in unexpected pain. 

Chan sees this and uses his free arm to wildly point to Jisung’s feet, where the three pirates that Hyunjin had cut before they got shot by Changbin are laying unconscious by his feet; Jisung getting the message immediately and picking up the last abandoned cutlass, using the long sword as means of slashing his way through Seungmin’s plan of action and speeding things up a little. 

  
  


“Just a little more - GOT THEM - go, Jisung,” Seungmin cries, and Jisung runs forward as best he can on his leg, starting to see spots in his vision from blood loss but carrying on as valiantly as he can- a pirate’s work is never done, especially in battle- and he’s making progress, taking down one after another enemy pirate with the limited lagrange he’s loaded his pockets with when- 

A sticky, vast hand grabs him from behind, right at the base of his neck, and Jisung freezes up, getting a paralysing sense of deja vu. 

It’s exactly like the first time. 

“Well, _hello there_ ,” hot breath in his ear makes him squirm in terror and Jisung’s entire body goes lax, his cutlass clattering onto the deck as the familiar voice sends shivers down his spine and makes goosebumps erupt on his skin, but it’s in no way a good thing. Jisung is frozen, he finds himself unable to even struggle against the hold at the back of his neck that thankfully doesn’t obstruct his breathing but _does_ put him in fear of being left paralysed for the rest of his life if this goes wrong. 

“It’s a shame I didn’t end up killing you the first time,” Caldwell sneers, loud enough that his words are just barely audible over the sounds of grunting fighters and yells of pain, “What do you say I finally finish the job, after all these years?” 

Jisung manages to unfreeze enough to slip a hand into his pocket; grasps the last bits of scrap metal and screws left over from his once-healthy supply of lagrange, and does his best to fling it into Caldwell’s face, but to his dismay and lack of vision behind him, he guesses that he misses as he hears the telltale sound of metal hitting the floor just seconds later as Caldwell laugh loudly, and Jisung registers too late the feeling of a metal blade plunging into his side, and he screams out in white-hot agony.

‘Is that all you’ve got?” he mocks once he regains breath, and out of nowhere, Changbin comes to his rescue, using one gunshot and a well-aimed hand to put a bullet straight into the Reds’ Captain’s head, and everybody on the ship freezes as the hand falls away from Jisung’s neck; his childhood almost-killer falls to the ground, lifeless. Changbin looks pleased with himself, until he sees the look of shock on Jisung’s face; his hand coming away from his side dripping in glistening red, and the elder’s face _falls_ as Jisung, too, finally loses consciousness and falls to the ground too, right next to their deceased enemy. 

“Jisung,” Changbin cries out, and as Jisung grows still on the deck, the entire ship grinds to a halt; the Reds stopping in their fights, the wind stopping once more, and everything 

  
  


seems 

  
  


to 

  
  


wilt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LISTEN. LISTEN I DIDNT KNOW THIS WAS SIMILAR TO THE POTC MARRIAGE UNTIL SOMEONE READING MY WORD DOC POINTED IT OUT SO ID LIKE TO SAY A DISCLAIMER: I DID NOT BASE THIS CHAPTER OFF ANYTHING ELSE LIKE BOOKS/MOVIES AS IVE NEVER WATCHED POTC OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT although i will admit that pirate kiera knightley is absolutely Chefs Kiss -- i just thought it was a Neat Original Idea and ran with it until i realised it had already been done LMAOO anyway 
> 
> things ended badly today, but i promise you wont be waiting long for the next chapter! a few days at MOST. we're almost done with this fic, and then i'll be posting the one-shots (that are more romantic than plot-based ;)) ) in this au's series, so if you're still here and are loving this as much as i am, there'll still be content to look out for :D
> 
> thank you so much for reading! leave a comment if you'd like, letting me know your thoughts about these recent developments, whether you're liking it, and what you think will happen next! each and every one makes my day! <3


	10. chapter ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s over,” Chan says evenly into the stunned silence, and it surprises the whole Stray crew that their crew listens to Chan, and puts down their weapons. 
> 
> It makes sense; usually when one member of another crew kills a Captain, the Captain of the victorious crew would take on their crew as his own crew, and expand their entire group. But not in this scenario. 
> 
> “You all know what would usually happen. But I’m not taking you all on as part of my crew. Sort it out between yourselves; find a new Captain,” Chan commands, voice cold and emotionless, “ but if you ever try attacking our crew again, there’ll be consequences so painful even your worst nightmares will seem like fantasies. Got it? Now leave.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it gets sad but i pROMISE NO MCD ... AT LEAST NOT FOREVER MCD I PROMISE U trust the process there is a very sexy outcome anyway HAPPY READING <33

Captain Caldwell had always been viewed as inhuman; otherworldly, of sorts. But in no good way: he had been unkillable, untouchable and manic in his evilness. He had seemed completely animalistic in his traits and monstrous in his bloodthirst, but it seemed that beneath all of that, his mortality still rendered him human. 

And dear god, did he bleed like one. 

Nobody quite knows what to do now that the Reds’ Captain is dead, and the crew stand still for a minute, waiting for someone else to react. Changbin is the first move, crying out in grief and falling to his knees, crawling over to Jisung’s unconscious form and ripping his own shirt off, pressing the fabric tightly to his gaping wound and tying it as tight as he can around his middle,  _ please, please don’t be dead. _

“It’s over,” Chan says evenly into the stunned silence, and it surprises the whole Stray crew that their crew listens to Chan, and puts down their weapons. 

It makes sense; usually when one member of another crew kills a Captain, the Captain of the victorious crew would take on their crew as his own crew, and expand their entire group. But not in this scenario. 

“You all know what would usually happen. But I’m not taking you all on as part of my crew. Sort it out between yourselves; find a new Captain,” Chan commands, voice cold and emotionless, “ but if you  _ ever _ try attacking our crew again, there’ll be consequences so painful even your worst nightmares will seem like fantasies. Got it? Now leave.” 

Even more shockingly, the crew listens to him and moves to scramble back off the Strays’ ship - probably more in shock than anything as they heed Chan’s words and leave without another violent action. 

Instantly, the Strays spring to action and surround the most injured members; Jeongin and Felix waste no time in hauling Minho to his feet and carrying him down into the medical bay as Changbin, Chan and Seungmin surround Jisung, using oh-so-careful hands to pick him up off the deck and carrying him, too, to the medical bay as Changbin struggles to see through his tears. Chan and Seungmin are in shock; tears are refusing to come as their minds freeze like slow ice around the sight of their usually hyperactive and overconfident friend and crewmate in such a bloody, weakened state.

Hyunjin remains on the top deck and watches as the Reds trickle off the Strays’ ship, boarding their own and eventually sailing away.

Volcanic ash begins to fall from the sky, floating onto the deck of the Strays’ ship and sticking in thick clumps to the wet blood staining the floor.

For now, nobody dares touch it.

***

Nobody knows how much time passes, but after both a second and a lifetime of eternities the medical bay is told to clear out - apart from Jeongin, Minho and Jisung: their youngest crew member had, too, been beaten badly before the rest of the crew had returned, which was of course  _ before _ he gained his new injuries in battle, but insisted on not resting until both minho and Jisung had been treated to the best of his ability. Everybody had argued, for Jeongin looked as if he were about to collapse at any given moment, but what could they do? - Jisung’s life in particular was hanging on by a cotton thread, and Minho wasn’t faring much better, and so there was little the rest of the crew could do but treat their own wounds and leave Jeongin to the brunt of the medical work, as he was the only trained medic aboard who had any idea of how to treat the most critical of the crewmates. 

Felix, at least, insisted on staying, even if he was to be bound to sitting motionlessly in the corner until Jeongin had done all he could do - he was determined to be the observer and make sure Jeongin himself didn’t do any more damage to himself in saving Minho and Jisung. Besides, the excuse of “ _ I’m not leaving my  _ husband _ to work alone like this” _ seemed to melt Jeongin’s resolve enough for him to stay, much to everybody else’s relief.

For now, planning to leave the bay as soon as possible to give Jeongin more working space, Seungmin walks slowly to the cabinet holding salves and creams on the empty half of the medical deck, where Hyunjin is also standing, motionless and silent, their body a mess of welts and hot-toned colours. There’s an open gash on Seungmin’s own face, but he doesn’t feel it at all, too enveloped in emotional numbness and the sight of Hyunjin’s injuries to notice the bloody wound there.

“Fuck, Hyunjin,” Seungmin practically runs to the other, seeing their skin covered in burns and the occasional bloody wound or cut. “Did we do this?”  _ Why hadn’t he been more careful throwing the ship’s lagrange around so much…? _

“The burns, yeah,” Hyunjin laughs wetly. “It’s okay. You were doing it against the Reds.”

“I never meant to hit  _ you, _ ” Seungmin whispers, running gentle fingers over the sores and pulling back quickly when Hyunjin inhales sharply. “Come on. I know where the salve is for burns.” 

“And we need to patch you up, too,” Hyunjin stops and caresses the younger’s face, where a long gash now decorates the bridge of his nose and runs along his cheek. 

“I’m fine,” Seungmin brushes Hyunjin’s concern as they approach the familiar cabinet of medicinal vials and bottles. “It’s Minho and Jisung I’m really worried about…” 

Subconsciously, both of their eyes swivel over to where the aforementioned two lay on the only available surfaces in the bay, fully unconscious and chests rising and falling; Minho’s more so than Jisung’s, which is barely moving at all. 

Unbidden tears rise to Seungmin’s eyes and for once, he doesn’t bother to try and mask them, letting them run freely down his face and stubbornly letting the salty liquid stingfully mix with the gash on his cheek. None of the crew notice it; he cries silently as the night as he watches his two friends suffer and the rest of his crewmates patch each other up with slow, tired limbs and heavy eyelids. Hyunjin is the only one to notice, and probably only because they’re standing so close to him. 

“Woah, hey, are you okay?” Hyunjin is quick to try and soothe Seungmin, running their hands up and down Seungmin’s upper arms with care. 

“I just - ” Seungmin gasps in a huge breath of air, “ - what if Jisung doesn’t wake up? He was bleeding so much…” he sinks to the floor, medicine cabinet forgotten as he cradles his own head in his hands. “I’ve grown up with Jisung… he could  _ die _ , just like that. I can’t lose him, Hyunjin, I can’t.” 

Hyunjin sits down on the floor beside him; draws him into their side with ever-careful hands, and holds him to their chest as he cries. 

“It’s okay,” Hyunjin mumbles, right next to Seungmin’s ear, and the melodic sound of their voice is comforting. “It’s okay.” 

“I’m sorry,” Seungmin manages to choke out, and Hyunjin’s heart hurts at the raw vulnerability in the usually-stoic pirate’s voice. 

“Caring about your friends is no reason for apology.” 

The two sit there, unnoticed by the rest of the crew, for a good few minutes before Seungmin manages to catch hold of himself, and pulls himself together a little, wiping his eyes and ignoring how one hand comes away slightly bloodier than the other from where his tears had mixed with the cut on his face. 

“Thank you.” his voice is barely audible, but Hyunjin makes the words out just fine. 

“There’s no need to thank me,” they reply, wiping away the rest of the wetness on Seungmin’s face with the pads of their thumbs. “Now, let’s get you patched up, and then you need to rest. We have to be strong for Jisung and Minho, and that includes physically.” 

Ten minutes pass as Seungmin sits motionlessly on the floor and Hyunjin uses steady fingers to daub the blood away from his face and slowly, gently, patches up the painful slash running across Seungmin’s cheek. He doesn’t flinch once; instead he stares off into space, exhausted, and Hyunjin’s heart feels heavy at the sight. 

“Come on,” they say, standing and pulling the younger sailor to his feet. “I think you’ll feel a little better with somewhere comfier to rest.”

Seungmin doesn’t react; keeps staring blankly ahead but walks with Hyunjin so long as they keep hold of his shoulders, slowly guiding him above deck. 

“Come on, my pearl.” The nickname is unfamiliar but rolls off Hyunjin’s tongue like it had been said a thousand times before. “Just a little further.”

They make it back up onto the main deck before Seungmin stops again, and sits down suddenly, as if his legs had stopped supporting him. He lands on the rigging: an admittedly (and conveniently) more comfortable place to rest than simply on the floor, and Hyunjin gives in, climbing next to the worn-out sailor and startling when Seungmin slumps against him, boneless. 

“Hmm…” Hyunjin brings a hand up to rest in Seungmin’s hair, feeling the long locks in tangles and disarray: he hadn’t cut his hair, nor had the rest of the crew, since their last trip on land, way before the maps were found and the quest began. Due to this, everybody’s hair (apart from Felix and Minho’s, whose hair had only reached the point of  _ just _ surpassing their jawlines) had reached at  _ least _ shoulder length, and since they had left the boat those few days ago to dispose of the rock, Seungmin hadn’t had time to brush or comb through the locks- something Hyunjin had once heard him vocalise as something he  _ hated _ : the feeling of tangled, matted hair. Hyunjin tuts quietly. 

“I’m not sure if I can help you as much as I’d like with the Jisung situation...” they whisper into the wind, words for only Seungmin to hear, “but I  _ can  _ help you with this hair, hmm? Let me get all these tangles out of your pretty hair, my pearl.”

Seungmin still doesn’t react, but Hyunjin doesn’t mind; they’ll leave him with as much time as he needs to come back into his head again. For now, though, Hyunjin brings both arms up and around, to the side of Seungmin’s head furthest away from them, and begin to rake their fingers through the caramel-coloured strands, making an effort to be as gentle as possible as they work out tangles and knots and the occasional smatterings of blood that mats his hair into small clumps. It takes a long time: perhaps forty minutes or so, but once Hyunjin is done they’re proud to see - and feel - Seungmin’s hair restored to its former glory, tangle-free and shiny in the sun. 

“I’m going to sit behind you here, can you sit up for me for a minute?” Hyunjin asks, and Seungmin obediently leans back upright, eyes still glassy and unfocused as he stares into nothing. 

Hyunjin wobbilily pushes themself up the rope netting, shakily sitting behind- and therefore slightly above- Seungmin and crossing his legs, leaning forward to take hold of the strands starting at the top of his hair and beginning to braid. This way, Seungmin’s hair is out of the wind’s relentless grip and stands less of a chance of getting tangled again so soon- and besides, Seungmin will look amazing with a french braid, Hyunjin is one hundred percent certain. Perhaps the damp sea air will turn it wavy when he eventually takes his hair down again… they can hope. 

Once they’re done, they notify Seungmin with a small squeeze to his shoulders, and Seungmin relaxes back once more, flopping against Hyunjin’s legs; his head and freshly braided hair cushioned against Hyunjin’s stomach. Hyunjin unfolds their legs and slides down a little so Seungmin is more sitting between their legs instead of bending his back at an awkward angle; back-to-chest instead of shoulders-to-knees; supported. 

“It’s okay,” Hyunjin keeps repeating into Seungmin’s hair as they watch the seagulls fly by, unaware and oblivious to the human life aboard the ship. “You’re going to be okay, too. We’re all okay.”

  
  


***

  
  


When Chan finds the strength to move away from the medical bay and down into the lower compartments of the ship, the least thing he’s expecting to see is an elderly man, old and worn and beaten to the bone, lying limp on the ground next to the rest of the crews’ hammocks. 

After everything that’s happened today, however, he hasn’t any energy left to react with. 

“Who are you?” he asks tiredly, and something in the man’s exhausted manner and forgiving eyes tells him that perhaps he isn’t a part of the Reds after all.

The man croaks weakly; the loose skin on his neck shakes as he struggles to sit up. Chan bends down to aid him, and kneels down in front of the man to speak to him easier.

“I’ll get you some water. Stay here.”

The water barrels are almost empty - the Reds must have had a fine old time emptying their supplies before the rest of the Strays returned - but Chan gathers a container of the clear liquid and returns quickly to the man, holding it up to his lips so that he may drink easier. 

It takes a few minutes, and by the time the man has drank half of the water, the other half has been sent dripping and squelching down his chin and torn shirt, but it’s okay. Chan needs to know who he is for now.

“... Thank you,” the man whispers once Chan pulls the container away from his lips, one weak, gnarled hand coming to clutch at Chan’s sleeve gratefully as his voice grates on Chan’s ears like chalk on a blackboard; pitchy and painful. “Thank you.” 

“Who are you?” Chan asks again, and the man’s mouth opens and closes a few times, as though he isn't quite sure where to start. Chan fears for the man’s health, and whether he has eaten in the past few days, for his bones are clearly visible through his torn clothing and his cheeks are sunken and hollow. Chan doesn’t want another possible death on his ship, not today, not ever. He stands again and vows to come back with some food, and then silently promises himself that he will get an answer out of the man before dusk. 

“There’s an old man below deck by our hammocks. He’s too frail to stand, so I’m going to feed him and then try to find out who he is,” Chan announces into the heavy silence that weighs down on the crew when his head and shoulders break back into the fresh air. The air is now concerningly thick with ash, hot and sharp, and he knows that they have to leave  _ now _ , lest they risk getting caught in lava and suffocate in the excess. “Where’s Seungmin?”

“I’m here,” Seungmin announces his whereabouts quietly, standing up from where he was sitting on the rigging, and staring off into nothing from between Hyunjin’s knees. Chan notices that he’s thankfully relatively unharmed, save from a few gashes here and there. He’ll have to wait for proper medical treatment until they’re out of harm’s way.

“We have to get off this island,” Chan says, glancing back to the foaming volcano at the other end of the island, and Seungmin nods solemnly, walking robotically to the wheel of the ship without further question or agreement. Hyunjin slips back off to the medical bay without another word, but they glance worriedly back at Seungmin once more before they leave.

As the ship begins to move again, and is steered back into open sea, Chan starts moving again, walking towards the food supplies as he tries to ignore the painful silence surrounding the entire ship caused by most of his beloved crew being crowded into the medical bay, either for their own treatment or to aid Jeongin in saving not just one, but two fatally injured crewmates. 

The smell of food makes Chan feel sick to the stomach as he handles it, and he holds his breath as he walks back to the room where the old man still resides, handing the dry crackers and preserved meat to him in small pieces, easily chewable.

“Are you badly injured?” Chan asks as he watches the man eat in silence, and he only gets a shake of his head in response. In a way, it’s a relief to know so in more ways than one - Jeongin doesn’t need the extra strain of another patient added to the burden right now.

“My name is Lee Byungchul,” the old man croaks at long last, “of Aebarrow.” 

_ Lee Byungchul of Aebarrow. _

Chan drops the extra food he was holding and it falls to the floor with a dull thud.

“A-- Aebarrow?” he asks, needing to be sure, and the man nods. “Of Aebarrow? As in, part of the royal family?”   
  


He only gets another nod. Chan’s heartbeat roars in his ears as he processes his words.

_ He could be related to Minho. _

“D… do you have children?” he asks weakly, and the man nods again, albeit confusedly. 

“I have one daughter. Lee Areum.”

_ Lee Areum, present Queen of Aebarrow. _

If this man is telling the truth, it sounds as though he’s Minho’s  _ grandfather _ . 

“I -- why are you here?” Chan asks, feeling absolutely lost, as if he’s flailing in thin air. Mentally, he definitely is: not a doubt about it. The confusion he’s feeling is mirrored in the poor man’s face in front of him.

“The Reds kidnapped me from the palace years and years ago,” is the vague yet telling reply Chan gets, and he notes with relief how the man sounds a little stronger now. “I was ruling back then, but I assume that the position has now fallen to my daughter…?” 

“Queen Areum is ruling with her husband, yes.”  _ Does he know he has a grandson? That this grandson is, in fact, on the same ship as him right now, fighting for his life? _ “Forgive me, but… are you aware that you have a grandson?”

“I was not aware of my daughter having wed, so no,” Byungchul shakes his head. “Pray tell me, is he in line for the throne?”

“He… sir, this is going to be a lot for you to process, but he’s actually on this ship right now. He was the crown prince, yes, and was next in line for the throne, but he left to join us once he found some maps and scrolls stashed away in the castle.” Chan truly didn’t know how much he should be telling Byungchul, but he said this much, to give him a faint idea of the scenario they were all facing, as well as some background. “He’s actually… he was beaten very badly by the Reds, and is in a critical state of health right now.”

“He is?” the last mouthfuls of his food forgotten and discarded, Byungchul struggles to his feet, needing Chan’s help to complete the action. “Lord - take me to him, take me to him,  _ please _ .”

Truly, Chan doesn’t know if this is the best idea - but he leads Byungchul above-deck regardless, turning a corner and dipping back below deck to get to the medical bay, where both Minho and Jisung still lay, unconscious. For now, Minho is unattended, and looks frail and weak, whilst Jeongin attends to Jisung’s main wound, trying frantically in vain to stop the blood flow with the help of Felix and Changbin. The younger certainly looked much worse off than the ex-prince, and that was going completely off his ashy, colourless appearance, and ignoring the panicked voices of Jeongin and Changbin as they worked as fast as they could to save him. No one else was to be found - Chan guessed that they had ordered everybody out of the bay for a while for better moving space.

“This is he, sir,” Chan gestures to Minho as they reach his unconscious form, wincing at the sight of bloodied bruises and gashes lining his entire body and bleeding through the bandages that had been applied there. To tell the truth, as guilty as he feels about it, he physically can’t pay attention to Minho right now - not when Jisung is laying next to him, bleeding out and dying.

“Oh…” Byungchul’s voice cracks as he whispers the singular syllable, letting shaky hands trace the air above his grandson’s motionless body. “This boy… he gave me his food when the Reds brought me below-deck. He’d already been beaten up and needed it just as much as I did, but…”

“Minho is a very kind-hearted soul indeed,” Chan murmurs in reply, drawing comfort only from the way that Minho’s chest moved minutely as he breathed, a sure sign that although he looked frail and damaged now, he’s still alive; still fighting. He hopes Minho still has enough sustenance within him to last him until he wakes - if he had given the last of his food to Byungchul below-deck, when was the last time he ate?

“Sir, how long have you been on this ship for, do you know?”

“We have been here for two days.”

Chan felt sick. Two days had gone by, and their own crew had been too late to save Minho, Jeongin, and now Byungchul from injury, not to mention the added damage done to the entire crew during the Reds’ battle after they returned and reunited. 

The ship spurs to life beneath everyone’s feet, and Chan heaves a small sigh of relief at the reassurance that they’ll at least be off and away from the island by the time the volcano erupts, and they will be within cleaner, less ashen air very soon. For now, Hyunjin can be heard talking in low tones with Jeongin over Jisung’s unconscious form, having entered mere seconds ago, and although Chan can’t make out what is being said, he can hear palpable shock in Jeongin’s voice, and pleading tones in Hyunjin’s. He wonders what they could be discussing to warrant such passionate debate during a life-or-death debacle.

*

“ _ You have to let me help him,” _ Hyunjin whispers, out of earshot to anybody apart from Jeongin. The medic in question has hardly managed to stop Jisung’s steady bleeding, and although blood is no longer flowing freely like a fountain, it’s still not stopping, and as slow as the flow has become, Jisung has already lost far too much blood to survive with. “ _ I can help him survive, Jeongin. He’s going to die otherwise.” _

“I really don’t see how it’s possible-”

“He’s going to die either way, then. Let me try. We have to  _ try _ ,” Hyunjin begged, laying a hand upon Jisung’s arm as if they could protect him from further harm. “Please, Jeongin. We don’t have long left and you know it.”

Jeongin deliberates desperately, his eyes flickering between Jisung’s ashen form and Hyunjin’s pleading eyes, and he knows that on this ship, there is truly no way for Jisung to survive. If they want a single shot at his survival, he’ll have to trust Hyunjin blindly, and hope to all available gods that it will work, whatever they have in mind.

It’s right as he comes to a decision that Changbin suddenly gasps, dropping to his knees with a horrible choking sound that Jeongin never wants to hear again in his entire life.

“He - he’s gone,” Changbin whispers, and Felix freezes too, staring down at Jisung with grief-stricken despair as they observe his chest, statue-still. Jeongin rushes forward, pressing his hands to Jisung’s neck and wrists --  _ nothing. _ Hyunjin bends over JIsung’s face, feeling desperately for signs of breathing, but their skin remains completely untouched by the hot air that Jisung’s body should be dispelling right now.

“Jeongin,” Hyunjin pleads, and their voice rises desperately as they beg. “Jeongin, now or never.  _ Let me take him _ .” 

“... Oh my goodness - okay. Okay. Okay,” Jeongin said, running stressed hands through his hair roughly and tugging at the strands there, trying to sort through an endless maze of thoughts and  _ what ifs _ and confusions. “Okay. Whatever it is you’re thinking, I give you leave to do it. Please… please bring him back to us.”

That was all the confirmation Hyunjin needed, and immediately they ran back to the top deck, observing how far the ship had sailed from the island already and deeming the distance far enough by now to be safe from ash clouds and potential residual lava flow. 

“Seungmin, I’m about to do something, but don’t be alarmed,” Hyunjin yells up to the pilot as they sprint to the bulkhead, and Seungmin nods in startled agreement, eyes tired but curious as Hyunjin sprints back below-deck, returning just a moment later with their arms full of Jisung, whose head lolls and jolts with every hurried step that Hyunjin takes.

They have a plan, but they’re losing time, losing  _ so much time _ , they need to get Jisung underwater  _ now _ .

“Jinnie - what are you doing with him?” Seungmin yells, startled into terror at the sight of it. Jisung’s only losing  _ more _ blood being jostled so much, and his chest is no longer moving at all. Seungmin suddenly feels as if he’s going to be sick.

“You have to trust me,” Hyunjin whispers, looking up at the pirate behind the ship’s wheel, and although an entire deck separates them the wind carries Hyunjin’s words safely up to Seungmin’s ears, untouched and intact. Wordlessly, Seungmin nods, and then the air around him turns icy as Hyunjin climbs up onto the bulkhead and -- 

Keeping an iron-strong grip around Jisung’s body, they leap. 

A gargantuan  _ splash _ can be heard as both bodies pierce the water, but as Seungmin rushes to the side of the ship to scour its surface, he finds with rising panic that neither being breaks the surface after that. Faintly, he can see Hyunjin’s tail transforming, appearing, and then propelling themself and Jisung further down into the depths - but after that… nothing.

It’s torturous. 

Felix rushes up after Hyunjin, and sprints to Seungmin’s side as they both peer over the bulkhead, silent, neither knowing what to do nor say. 

“Did they just-”

“Yes.”

“With  _ Jisung _ ?”

“Yes…”

“Oh my goodness…” Felix’s eyes fill with tears as nothing, not even bubbles, rise to the surface, and Seungmin leaves his side to slow down the ship’s sail. “Seungminnie, Jisung is dead.” 

Seungmin’s own heart feels as though it stops at the words, but he cannot stop the ship’s sail here, in the open sea, for grieving purposes - but they  _ can _ slow down as much as possible, to make it easier for Hyunjin to follow them, or to catch up later. Tears blur and obscure his vision as he puts the ship into a slower sail, climbing through the rigging to change the sails as Felix helps him, but although he can physically feel endless tears finally falling, emotionally he feels  _ nothing _ . 

It seems that only Hyunjin has any idea of what they planned to do with Jisung’s body beneath the surface, and so Seungmin had no idea as to whether they’d be  _ able _ to keep up in the first place.

_ You have to trust me. _

The words ring heavy and shrilly in Seungmin’s ears, and vacantly, he brings one hand up to feel his hair; fingers tracing the braids Hyunjin had left there less than an hour ago, and he wonders if what he had just seen would be the last he ever sees of them and Jisung.

  
  


With burning eyes and hopeless limbs, he hopes with his entire being that that won’t be the case.

  
  


***

  
  


The remaining crew: namely Chan, but also Byungchul by extension, are informed of Jisung’s death as soon as possible. Chan is the last real crew member to know, and collapses onto the deck in grief as Byungchul awkwardly pats his back, not having ever met Jisung but feeling sad enough to shed a few tears of his own from the reactions of the crew as a whole. 

Repeatedly, Jeongin had tried to reassure everybody that Hyunjin had some form of plan that Jeongin couldn’t elaborate on, as Hyunjin hadn’t told him enough about it, but it kept everybody with one singular thread of hope to cling to, although with each passing day that thread became thinner and closer to snapping. 

  
  


Meanwhile, through the haze and fog of a broken crew, Minho remains unconscious for a whole week. 

Somewhere on the third day, his breathing starts to regulate more, and his chest starts moving more and more with each breath he takes, which is a dizzying relief to the crew, who had watched his chest move with only the most minuscule breathing movements with desperation for the days until he’d finally started to improve. It’s immense news for the entire crew, and fresh tears spring to everybody’s eyes at the news, though nobody acknowledged it. 

On the fifth day of his unconsciousness, Felix had pointed out that his eyes had begun to move beneath his eyelids- he was dreaming, at any rate- he was becoming more present. 

“It’s only a matter of time before he wakes up,” Jeongin had promised, and everybody had felt more of a weight lift from their shoulders; every day he was getting better, closer to opening his eyes again and recovering. 

Perhaps, once Minho wakes up, the gaping hole that Jisung left in his wake would be able to be filled, just a little bit, by Minho’s presence, although everybody knows that the Jisung-sized gap will never be filled with anybody who isn’t JIsung himself.

It was just nearing midnight of the sixth day of unconsciousness when a half-asleep Jeongin had jolted awake (he had almost fallen asleep sitting upright on the wooden chair a few steps away from Minho’s bed) at the sight of Minho’s hand moving, up from the wood beneath him and up to his head. His eyes remained closed, but he opened his mouth and let out a silent groan at the pain he was inevitably in. 

“Oh my god,” Jeongin almost fell over his own feet as he immediately ran over to Minho, and gaped at the sight of the elder slowly blinking awake. “Oh my god. Oh my god. You’re awake.”

Minho said nothing; blinked up at the younger’s face looming over his own and simply breathed, reaching his hand up to touch Jeongin’s cheek. 

“You’re awake,” unbidden, more tears rose to Jeongin’s eyes but he blinked them away, not wanting to leave Minho’s face wet with tears first thing after waking after a whole week. 

“Alive?” Minho’s voice sounded painful, and the one word spoken sounded tiring to pronounce- unsurprising, seeing as he was so weak. 

“Yes, Minho.” Jeongin laughed a little, out of pure relief, “You’re alive.” 

Minho smiled, closing his eyes again as he let his hand fall from Jeongin’s cheek again, and the young medic let him, managing to stay still for just long enough for Minho to fall back asleep before he took a second to inhale silently; eyes closed as he jumped up and down in place once, twice- before sprinting out of the medical bay. 

“MINHO WOKE UP,” he yelled as he made it above deck, and five heads snapped up in shock. 

“What?” Felix was quick to sprint at Jeongin. “Can we see him?”

“He fell back asleep, but he woke up for a few seconds!”

“Oh, that’s incredible,” Chan felt weak with relief. “Amazing.” 

When he finally wakes up enough to string three words together, the first thing he asks about is Jisung; the younger being stabbed so brutally by Cauldstone was the last thing he, too, had seen before he had lost consciousness a week ago, and was the first thing on his mind to inquire about. 

Jeongin and Felix are the only other people in the medical bay at that moment, which is both a blessing and a curse: a blessing that Minho should wake up to tranquility, but a curse that the other present crewmates can’t be with him the second he wakes.

“I…” Jeongin tried, blinking away the tears as Minho’s sickly white face drops. “Minho, I’m so sorry…”

“Shouldn’t Minho be resting?” Felix whispers, tracing Minho’s cheek with featherlight touches. “This is already the longest he’s been awake.”

“We can’t just leave him hanging once he’s verbally asked about Jisung,” Jeongin says, and Felix’s heart constricts as he walks to the other side of Minho and takes his hand in his own, squeezing gently in what he hopes is a reassuring manner.

“Min, you need to rest. We’ll tell you more when you’re stronger.”

“N-no,” Minho struggles to say, pulling at Felix’s hand in weak desperation. “Jisung… is he okay?” Everything hurts, but as he makes an extra effort to move his neck and scan the medical bay for another sign of life, he finds it wrenchingly empty.

“Jisung is… well, we don’t rightly know. His heart stopped beating…” Jeongin trails off, a single tear escaping his eye, but he is quick to wipe it away with a lightning-fast hand movement. “Hyunjin took him away… we haven’t seen either of them in a week. I truly know not what Hyunjin’s doing, nor if Jisung is still dead. We know as little as you, Minho. The most I can tell you is to get some rest, so that if by some... _ inhuman miracle  _ Hyunjin achieves the revival of Jisung, we can all be well enough to welcome him back with vigour.”

“Your grandfather is here,” Felix tries to smile weakly at the invalid, and deliver some good news along with the present news of Jisung’s death. He knows he fails miserably when Minho’s face doesn’t brighten one jot, and he closes his eyes again in hopelessness.

“I have no grandfather.”

“He’s your Mother’s Father… he was captured by the Reds, too. He’s been visiting you for hours every single day,” Felix whispers. “I can go and get him…?”

Minho sighs, and the single breath sounds laboured and heavy. “Okay.” 

“I’ll go and get him,” Jeongin leaves Felix with a squeeze of his hand, and Minho watches the movement before Jeongin steps away and leaves the bay. Despite the heart-wrenching pain of Jisung’s present death and questionable return and the physical pain he’s in, Minho finds it within him to wink at Felix, who manages a small laugh in return.

“And did I hallucinate you getting married during battle, Mister Felix?” Minho teases, anything to  _ not have to think about the fact that Jisung is dead _ , and Felix swats at his leg as he sits down next to him. 

“You didn’t. That happened, as well as everything else.”

“I’m sorry that such tragic events took place right after that,” Minho whispers, and Felix smiles again.

“It’s really okay. We have the rest of our lives now…”

The unspoken words of  _ but Jisung does not _ hang painfully between them, and Minho knows that Felix is thinking the same thing, and so he wiggles his fingers in invitation for Felix to take his hand, which he does, lacing their fingers together securely. The feeling is grounding. Minho doesn’t think he’ll be able to let go for a few hours, especially not as Jeongin re-enters the room with a familiar old man limping in after him.

Minho recognises him as the man he had met below-deck after the Reds had left him there, beaten and alone - or so he thought -- the man who had offered kind words, and who in return, Minho had offered his food to.  _ His grandfather? _

“Minho,” the man croaks - Minho had never caught his name - and falls, rather than sits, into the chair beside Felix’s. Jeongin stands behind Felix, his hands finding Felix’s shoulders at once, and massages them gently as they watch over the two.

“... Grandfather?” Minho asks quietly. Byungchul nods, and tears fill his eyes as he reaches out to stroke Minho’s face tenderly.

“When I first left Aebarrow I knew not even of Areum even  _ having _ a sweetheart, let alone being marred and with a son… I have missed out on so much,” he says, and Minho nods, processing everything slowly.

“When you left Aebarrow… when was that?” Minho’s parents had never mentioned his having grandparents, and although he knew that he would have had them, of course, he has presumed them all to be dead. Perhaps  _ they _ had also presumed him dead.

“The Reds came for me in the night,” Byungchul replies, his voice thick and gravelly with age, but his eyes remain focused, having regained strength in the past few days thanks to rest and food. “They wanted the maps that I had… but I hid them before fleeing the palace. They found and captured me anyway, and held me hostage for twenty-three years, now. They would have killed me, but without my maps, I was their last hope.”

“Maps?” Minho struggles to sit up, and Jeongin and Felix help him, propping cushions borrowed from Chan’s office behind him to aid his comfort. “I found maps, beneath the floorboards in the palace kitchens.”

“The very same,” Byungchul eyes sparkled, and he took hold of Minho’s hand that had just been let go of by Felix, holding it tightly. “So you found them, did you? And did you all follow them?”

“We did, and we destroyed the treasure, too,” Felix chimed in, lifting a container of water to Minho’s lips for him to drink from. Byungchul continued to squeeze Minho’s hand with strength that could only stem from the utmost pride, and smiled down at his grandson with newfound energy that could rival Felix’s. 

“Then, this has by  _ far _ been worth the twenty-three years of beatings and torture from the Reds. To meet my grandson, and find out that he has followed in my footsteps, and found his place on a ship full of  _ good _ pirates after everything… Minho, I am so proud of you.” 

“Thank you,” Minho whispers, and squeezes his grandfather’s hand back, bringing their hands up to his forehead, where he cradles them, as if in an embrace of sorts. 

The selfsame man who had talked to Minho the very night before the rest of the Strays came back, and whom Minho gave his food rations… he had been Minho’s grandfather all along. 

He had discovered a new family member, whilst travelling with his found family. In the fifteen minutes that they had been talking for, Byungchul had shown Minho more paternal love and affection than either of his parents had ever shown him in his known life. 

It’s all too much to process at once, and yet it’s the perfect thing he needs to help remedy the rest of reality that’s been insistent on slapping him in the face since his waking.

“I think we should let him rest now,” Jeongin says quietly, noting how Minho’s eyes were already closing for longer in between their openings. “You can come back when he next awakens.”

“Rest well,” Byungchul murmured as he stood up, and once he left, Minho allowed tears to slip past his closed eyes, wetting his cheeks and slipping into his hair as his chest shook with sobs. He couldn’t even bring himself to be properly happy about meeting his grandfather, who was apparently thought to be dead, for the first time: all he wanted was Jisung, safe and sound and preferably within his arms. 

That in itself was a revelation he forced himself to face now: feverish and recovering, that now that  _ he _ was getting better, Jisung was somewhere below the surface of the sea, lifeless and frail, with Hyunjin, wherever they may be. 

As he finally loses the grapple with unconsciousness, Minho accepts in his heart that, alive or dead, he’s been in love with Jisung for much longer than he cares to admit.

***

It takes one more week for an update on Jisung and, by extension, Hyunjin.

Seungmin has been moving the ship as slowly as possible, and thankfully the weather has stayed mercifully constant. Chan, who has been holed up in his office, worried out of his mind and half-mad with grief, occasionally comes out to stand with Seungmin as he steers the ship, and together they take care of one another, making sure they’re both eating and resting as much as they can physically manage - which admittedly, isn’t much. 

But they have each other, and for that they are thankful.

Jeongin and Felix push their newly wedded status out of the ship for the time being, and devote every spare second they have to Minho’s recovery. Sometimes, Changbin joins them when they need an extra hand with several wounds at once, or moving Minho from bed to bed so that they can keep the space he lays on clean and fresh, but more often than not he attends Byungchul, who is still weak, but is getting better every day, regaining strength and eventually, the ability to walk by himself, albeit with a cane’s assistance. 

In summary, everybody has something to do, something to keep them busy: anything to keep their minds at bay from being driven out of their minds with grief and worry for Jisung. Nobody knows whether they’ll ever see him again, and each and every crew member silently agrees that the uncertainty is even worse than getting a definite answer as to whether or not Jisung is alive. If they could just be  _ told _ whether or not he’s truly gone… then they could start properly grieving, or rejoice in the fact that he’s alive. 

But with no way of knowing, nobody knows whether to be realistic - as no one can simply come back from the dead - or to vainly cling on to the smidge of unrealistic hope that they possess.

In the end, it’s always hope that wins.

***

It takes another four days before anything happens.

Seungmin, having slowed down the ship to a snail’s pace, scours the sea for any sign of life: be it a dolphin, bird, or fish…  _ or siren, or human _ . He’s been doing this since the day of Jisung’s death, and nothing has ever happened, but he stoutly refuses to give up. 

  
  


He won’t. 

  
  


He  _ can’t. _

  
  
  


At first, he thinks that he’s hallucinating, that tantalising flash of red and copper beneath the clear depths. But then he sees it again - heart pounding, he leans right over the bulkhead as he screams for Chan.

“ _ CHAN!” _

Chan sprints out of his office, eyes ablaze and prepared for the worst - but when he sees the expression on Seungmin’s face he, too, joins him by the wheel and leans out over the bulkhead too, and when they  _ both _ spot another hint of red below the waves they practically shriek with relief.

They don’t have to wait for long after that.

Hyunjin’s head breaks the surface of the water -- and then -  _ finally _ \- Jisung’s, too.

Jisung, who is, by every miracle and defying every odd,  _ alive _ .

“Oh my god,  _ Jisung _ ,” Chan babbles, and in an instant he’s vaulted right over the side of the ship, throwing himself into the water by the two resurfaced crewmates and pulling Jisung’s fragile body into his arms. “You’re alive…. You’re alive… you’re here-”

“Somebody tell Minho, Felix and Jeongin,” Seungmin yells, and then he’s leaping overboard too, joining the embrace between Chan and Jisung - Jisung, who is still yet to speak, but whose heartbeat Seungmin can feel clearly beating through his thin shirt - before he looks over and makes eye contact with Hyunjin, and pulls them in, too. 

Changbin is the next to see them all, and he, too, jumps into the sea, joining the group hug, but Jeongin, Felix and Minho are much slower as they help Minho carefully climb down the ship’s ladder, not letting him jump overboard in his weak state. They have to restrain themselves from leaping at Jisung, too, as they wrap their legs around the ladder and hold Minho up, as he’s still too weak to do much else but float in place, instead of treading water like everyone else, as much as he struggles to swim closer to the main reunion.

It’s fitting, really, how salty the sea is, matching the sweet bitterness of joyful tears that are cried into it, merging into one body. 

“How are you alive, what did --” Changbin is one of the first to pull away from the reunion, looking down at the sea engulfing them to see that instead of one tail within the waters, there are  _ two _ , and one belongs to Jisung. “-- Oh?”

It’s a beautiful mix of purples, greens and blues scales that pick up on the sunrays filtering through the waves, and although its movements are a lot less trained and steady than Hyunjin’s, the tail is  _ there _ , and real, and very much attached to Jisung. It’s only then that Changbin realises that the reason Jisung’s neck was looking a little different to usual is because he has  _ gills _ there now, allowing him to breathe underwater, thick and textured and real. Changbin’s head whips around to Hyunjin in shock, who smiles bashfully, holding their hands up in surrender. 

“How did you-”

“It was a last resort,” Hyunjin admitted, “and I didn’t even know if it would work in the first place… it’s an ancient spell undoing harm passed down through generations, but I didn’t know if it would work on a human… as a result, it gave Jisung a tail, too. That, I didn’t anticipate...” 

Everyone has let go of Jisung by now, ducking underwater to get a better look at his tail, and in the freedom from hugs, Jisung darts forward towards the ship’s ladder, clumsily swimming towards the three of whom he hasn’t yet been able to hug -- and of course, Minho is the first person he gets to, completely out of choice, squeezing his eyes tightly closed as he buries his face in Minho’s neck. Felix and Jeongin join from the outside, and for the first time in two long, long weeks, Jisung finally feels warm again.

Back in the open waters, Seungmin clings to Hyunjin like a lifeline. He tells himself that it’s because his metal prosthetic is weighing him down, and whilst it is indeed, and he could feel himself sinking from the second he had hit the water - it had been incredibly dangerous for him to jump from the ship into the sea in the first place, and he’s lucky it hasn’t dragged him down to the very sea bed beneath him - deep down he knows that prosthetic or no prosthetic, he’d still be clinging to Hyunjin either way.

“I might need some help,” he whispers, and Hyunjin’s eyes blow wide as they realise the real reason that Seungmin feels so heavy as of now, and they nod, helping Seungmin swim back to the ship so that they can shuck off their prosthetic and get it safely aboard again. Once he gets it off, he swims wonkily back to Hyunjin, and lets himself indulge after two weeks of parting - much like Jisung is still doing to Minho, he buries his face in Hyunjin’s neck and lets himself wrap around them like a limpet, squeezing his eyes closed as he refuses to let any more tears fall. Hyunjin holds him back just as tightly.

“Is there anything else we should know about Jisung’s new form?” Chan asks, and Hyunjin speaks up again around a mouthful of Seungmin’s hair.

“He’s essentially a Siren too, now, but without the powers. He can’t sing anybody into a trance, for instance,” Hyunjin explains, gesturing needlessly. 

For the first time, Jisung speaks up, and his voice sounds awful: rusty and painfully gravelly, probably because he’s been spending the last two weeks breathing water instead of air, and likely not speaking much as a result.

“I can’t transform back into human form, not yet. I’m not strong enough.”

“He’s made such incredible progress, though - it takes _so_ _much_ to be able to hold oneself up above the surface, as he’s doing now,” Hyunjin is quick to jump in with praise, and Felix rubs Jisung’s shoulder approvingly as Chan front-crawls towards him to do the same. Minho, too, still hasn’t spoken a word, but he presses a kiss to the top of Jisung’s head in acknowledgement. “Seeing the rest of you all was his motivation.”

“So you’ll both be staying in the sea for the foreseeable future?” Jeongin asks, and Hyunjin nods regretfully.

“It appears that way. I have no experience with humans becoming Sirens - I thought it was  _ impossible _ \- so I have no idea how long it will take for him to be able to transform…  _ or _ if he’ll be able to transform back into his human form at all.”

Jisung shudders at the thought, not being able to bear the thought of never being able to sit up in his crow’s nest again to monitor the horizon from a birds’ eye view, or get so close to the stars he felt as if he could touch them. Felix rakes his fingers through Jisung’s hair comfortingly as he whispers reassurances to his friend instead.

“Is Jisung biologically a Siren, too, now?” Minho asks, “Because if he is, then I’m sure he will be able to transform too.”

“I think so?” Hyunjin looks confused as they try to think back to Jisung’s initial transformation following the spell. “Again, this has never happened to a human, so I don’t know the ins and outs, I’m afraid.”

“I know that Hyunjin uses they/them pronouns because they’re a siren, and I know that I’m essentially one now too, but I’d still like to keep using he/him pronouns,” Jisung announces quietly, and the crew make noises and sounds of assent and support as every single crew member splash towards him, forming a complete group hug full of thanks directed at Hyunjin and encouragement for Jisung, who has still yet to disentangle himself from Minho, who also refuses to let go. 

It’s a while before anyone else speaks, and the air is filled only with the occasional sniffle, for who  _ wouldn’t _ shed tears of relief when their dear friend, who they believed to be dead, appears alive and well after two weeks of their loss? - and the wet sounds of sopping fabric occasionally slapping against each other with either the waves, or moving hug positions to get more comfortable. For the first time in what feels like years, the silence between the crew doesn’t feel weighted, and isn’t tainted with despair and grief.

This new silence is comfortable, and feels bright; hopefully. It’s full of yellows and pinks and lilacs instead of dark blues and blacks and greys.

“So… what’ve we missed?” Hyunjin asks quietly, not wanting to break the comfortable silence, and at once everybody starts talking over one another.

“Minho’s grandfather is on the ship-”

“Jeongin and Felix have adopted disgustingly domestic roles in the medical bay-”

“Minho only recently woke up himself, really-”

“We’ve been looking out for you both every day-”

“Wait, wait,” Jisung speaks up, cutting through the cacophony of voices, “Minho’s grandfather?”

“Oh, yeah,” Changbin rubs the back of his head sheepishly, “He’s still on the ship. Someone should probably go and tend to him.”

“He knows where we are for now,” Felix mumbles, not wanting to break up the crew’s reunion just yet. “Comfy here.”

“He’d been kidnapped by the Reds and held there for twenty-three years, to cut a long story short,” Chan informs Jisung helpfully, who’s still looking incredibly lost. “We don’t know where to go after this regarding him, but for now, he’s staying onboard with us.”

“Oh… Congratulations then, Minho?” Jisung asks, and everybody laughs at the hesitance in his voice. Indeed, nobody quite knew how to react to the news either. 

“I’m  _ so glad _ you’re here, and with us once more,” Seungmin whispers, and everybody’s arms tighten around each other; the air grows silent apart from the sea’s song around them, and they finally allow themselves the time to drink in the feeling of being eight again. 

Nothing has ever felt so good.

  
  


***

  
  


It’s soon decided that, whether it be with or without Hyunjin and Jisung, the crew need to leave. Food supplies are incredibly scarce, stretched thin after the Reds’ luxurious, unsolicited stay on their ship, and if anyone wants to survive they’ll need to sail to the nearest town to restock on survival supplies. The only problem is that Jisung is not yet strong enough to leave the sea, and so he can’t join the crew on-deck yet, nor is he strong enough to swim for long or far enough to keep up with them. A decision has to be made.

“Jisung can’t be away from the water for long,” Hyunjin says regretfully as Jeongin and Felix help Minho climb back up the ladder, for the elder of the three has quickly grown weak in the sea, and needs to rest, as adamant as he is that he doesn’t need to. Jisung’s eyes follow them the entire way up, until they’re on the ship and out of sight.

“Then you’ll stay here? In the sea, without us?” Chan asks worriedly, and Hyunjin nods as Jisung’s jaw drops. 

“I think we’ll have to, until Jisung is strong enough to swim as well as I can, and until he can transform, too. There’s no possible way of joining you guys on the ship before that.”

“No,” Jisung says, panicking, “no - we’ll be left behind-”

“Hey, hey,” Changbin shushes him, ignoring the ache in his legs from what feels like hours of treading water as he lays a comforting hand on Jisung’s arm. “We’re never,  _ ever _ going to leave you behind.”

“But until you’re strong enough we will have to leave temporarily, to get more food and supplies, or else we’re all in trouble,” Chan adds just as gently, and Hyunjin nods.

“I’ll be with you the entire time, Jisungie! What could be better?” they tease, and Jisung rolls his eyes, although he looks softer than before already. 

“You’ll come back?” he asks in a small voice, and Chan, Changbin and Seungmin all nod reassuringly at him, each crewmate taking their time to make extensive, heartfelt promises to come back as soon as they can as they all move in for a smaller group hug. They want nothing more than to surround Jisung with this amount of love forever, and never let go if it means their friend won’t ever feel like this again.

“We need to discuss what’s happening with Byungchul, too - he might not  _ want _ to stay on a pirate ship for the rest of his life,” Seungmin reasons, and the air fills with  _ ooh _ ’s and hums of agreement.

“I’ll go and talk to him,” Changbin concludes, lifting himself partway up the first rung of the ship’s ladder before turning back to Jisung. “Stay strong. I’ll come back in a while, I promise.”

“Okay, Binnie,” Jisung replies, and then Chan and Seungmin have to go too, to tend to their on-ship duties, whilst Hyunjin insists that themself and Jisung go back underwater so that Jisung can rest his tail a little, as this has been the longest he’s also tread water for, and they know that his tail must be hurting a lot right now. Everybody parts, and Chan helps Seungmin clamber, one-legged, back up the ship’s ladder, and Hyunjin and Jisung disappear back below the surface for a while. 

They’ll meet again very soon.

***

  
  


It’s later decided that the ship should make their trip all the way back to Aebarrow, where they will return Byungchul to his rightful kingdom and reunite him with his daughter. As risky as this plan is, the crew plan to dock one village away from the kingdom itself, and then disguise themselves as they walk Byungchul back to the palace, leaving him there alone before making their escape. 

Minho is to stay with the crew, and as happy as he is to be united with his grandfather, both himself and Byungchul know within their hearts that Minho’s true calling is out here, among the untamed beauty of the seven seas, and so thankfully there was no argument to be had on that front.

Hyunjin and Jisung are to stay where the ship currently is, working on Jisung’s strength in a part of the sea that is rich in fish to be caught and eaten, and where the water is particularly clear and healthy for a young Siren to explore. 

As much as nobody wants to part from their two favourite Sirens, it has to be done, and the sooner the Strays leave, the sooner they can return to Jisung and Hyunjin, and have them join the crew again for the rest of eternity, never to part again for as long as they can all help it.

Despite his fatigued state Minho insists on saying goodbye to the two himself, and although Felix keeps a watchful eye on him over the bulkhead he’s allowed to go down into the sea himself for a more private goodbye. He says goodbye to Hyunjin first, and then, as Hyunjin, too, keeps a careful eye on Jisung, Minho moves to the younger Siren of the two.

“Come back to me soon,” Jisung whispers, and although he’s clumsy in the way he struggles to stay completely upright in the water to meet Minho halfway, it’s endearing how he’s so clearly trying to elongate this moment between them both, despite the physical pain. Minho might have indulged him further, if it weren’t for his concern regarding the younger’s present injuries: the still-healing knife wound in his side, and physical exertion in general from having to adapt to a life in the water instead of air. 

“I will,” Minho replies, and wraps his legs around the side of the ship’s ladder to hold himself in place, submerged fully to the waist in cool seawater so that he might wrap his arms around Jisung’s form and pull him closer, under the guise of sharing his burden and easing his struggles for just a moment. “Stay strong whilst we’re gone, okay? We shall be rooting for you the whole journey there and back.”

“I promise,” Jisung says, and his voice still doesn’t rise above a whisper as he all but melts at Minho’s steady touch. Minho doesn’t quite flinch, but it’s certainly a shock when cold hands come up to cup his face, bringing with them bucketfuls of water that runs down his neck and into his shirt, leaving the rest of him wet enough to warrant a change of clothes when he climbs back on board - but none of that matters right now. What matters is who is right in front of him, holding him and gazing so, so softly into his eyes. 

“Perhaps I should give you another promise of my own, for when things get hard to deal with,” Minho drops his voice to match Jisung’s volume, and then they’re both leaning in; Jisung having clearly anticipated Minho’s kiss as he meets him halfway, a clash of soft lips and clumsy teeth that quickly gives way to a natural, more genteel routine; finding their way as if they had done this hundreds of times before, despite their bumbling beginning. 

Minho’s weakened muscles begin to strain from holding Jisung up for so long, but he can’t bring himself to care about his own personal wellbeing and recovery when he finally has the man he loves held against him, holding him back and kissing him so gently and carefully. For once, Minho finds he can block out all background noise from the rest of the crew who are none the wiser onboard, and winds a hand into Jisung’s wet hair, feeling a slight current bat against his legs where Jisung’s tail fights to keep him afloat.

They break apart, and pant against each other’s lips for a few seconds, before Minho leans back in, pressing a lingering peck to the tip of Jisung’s nose, before his cheeks follow, before his forehead, and then back down to his lips again; a long, deep kiss pressed there before Minho can help himself. He rounds off with one last, short kiss, before separating himself entirely from the new Siren.

“We should not prolong our journey any longer, lest we be apart for longer. We will hurry back to you and Hyunjin, I promise you,” Minho says, and Hyunjin resurfaces from wherever they had been swimming before as Minho places both hands back on the ship’s ladder, letting go of Jisung completely. “Hyunjin, take care, too. We’ll be back in a few weeks’ time; you will barely have time to miss us.” 

“But-” Jisung starts, but cuts himself off before he can even properly begin his sentence, biting his lip and staring resolutely down at the water surrounding him. “Okay.”

“Be strong, Jisung,” Minho sing-songs quietly, and then he’s pulling himself back aboard, shaking himself off before peering back over the bulkhead at Hyunjin and Jisung… his two new friends; one being that little bit more. 

“Weigh anchor!” Chan instructs, and Seungmin nods; Changbin and Felix pull up the anchors keeping the ship grounded in shallow waters as the pilot himself begins to steer the ship back to open waters. It doesn’t stop Seungmin in particular from casting a wistful glance back to the waters they leave behind; to a head of long, blonde hair that is not quite occupied with their task at hand just yet, and whose eyes catch his as the ship sails steadily away from the island.

It’s no secret that the entire crew feels a pang of sadness and even frantic  _ panic _ at leaving behind their beloved friends; but it has to be done, and they all do recognise that the sooner they leave, the sooner they will come back, hopefully to see Jisung moving about with superior strength and the ability to change back and forth between his siren and human form.

And if not… well, they all have time. No one would ever mind, nor complain, of having to wait to sail the seas once more in favour of letting Jisung adjust and gain experience and strength.

  
  


They will reunite again soon, and sail as eight through the seas forevermore.

  
  
  
  
  
  


It’s a new forever for everybody, and nobody, not one, can wait.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaaaaaaaand we're done!!!!! i can't believe this fic has come to an end -- but fear not, we're nowhere near done with this universe!
> 
> if you're reading this now, thank you so much for having made it to the end with me! I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed writing it - and I hope that you'll continue to be as invested in this pirate au as I am, because as you can now see, I've made this fic into a series!! many ideas, new oneshots and even plotted (albiet much shorter) fics are coming after this fic - and the first addition has already been written, and i'll be posting it in a few days' time. 
> 
> please do leave a comment if you'd like, and again, thank you so much for reading and getting to the end! stay amazing <3


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